


The Long Way Round

by kuhekabir



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-08
Updated: 2011-04-17
Packaged: 2017-10-16 19:27:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/168553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuhekabir/pseuds/kuhekabir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How to fall in love and drive your partner crazy and take the long route to happiness. Roads paved with fires, exploding buildings, guns and explosives and pretending to be gay to get the bad guys! Life is never easy for Danny and Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You can also follow this story on LJ and the master post for it is here:
> 
> http://community.livejournal.com/kuhekabir_fics/82033.html
> 
> You can comment there if you like.

Part 1 – How it ends.

Steve was in a fairly good mood when he strolled into the H50 headquarter.

They had no case at the moment and while he was never too fond of paperwork, he had Danny there to do it for him.

All he had to do was smile a little bit, rile the blond man up and he would be practically bouncing and begging to do the paper work for him in order to prevent Steve filing a form incorrectly or fill something in wrong.

It was fun and Danny seemed to enjoy it even though he always grumbled about it. But Steve was certain that if he really minded he would’ve been very vocal about it because Danny had no problems in making himself heard or understood.

So until he got told differently he was just going to keep on doing what he had done so far and who knew, maybe a few months down the line their odd way of flirting would actually lead to something.

He was cautiously optimistic because for a supposedly straight guy he had caught Danny often enough ogling his ass.

Still, years of experience had told him to be cautious about who he approached with this side of him and while he doubted that Danny was a homophobe he honestly didn’t want to risk dampening their friendship.

It meant too much to him to risk it only for sex. And honestly he wasn’t so sure that he had what it took to make it more than a few pleasurable tumbles in the sheets and Danny didn’t seem the type to be inclined to do casual.

He had always figured that some people were meant to do relationships and some simply weren’t built for it and since he hadn’t seen any evidence that he belonged to the first group he had always made it very clear that no one he slept with should start thinking in terms of months or years.

His career had only cemented his belief that relationship were eventually doomed to fail and even though Danny had him thinking that maybe, just maybe, he could give it a try he was still a far cry away from risking what they had.

He wasn’t the patient type. He didn’t do waiting either but rushing this wasn’t going to do anyone any good. And even if waiting went against his nature, his training had taught him all he needed to know to endure.

And endure he would. It might be worth it in the end and if it didn’t work out, at least he had tried.

Anyway, they had no case at the moment, paper work was looming on the horizon and he was almost looking forward to spending a few hours twirling in his chair, riling Danny up into some sort of rants, hands waving and blond hair flying.

Yes, he could imagine a worse way to spend his day.

So it took him totally by surprise that when he entered the office, a small, all too familiar smirk playing across his face, that Danny’s fist connected with jaw.

He tumbled backwards, only years of experience ensuring that he didn’t land on his ass and he easily side stepped the next punch Danny threw at him.

His blood rushed to his ears, almost blocking out what Danny was shouting at him and if for a moment he might have entertained the notion that this was Danny’s idea of some good fun, his jaw was there to tell him differently because the punch had been anything from playful.

Danny had meant to hurt him and it was Chin who eventually pulled Danny away from him, restraining him until the blond man had himself under enough control to face Steve again.

“What’s wrong with you?” Steve calmly asked, anger making his blood flow quicker but he valued Danny too much to give into it.

Danny was a hot head and once he knew what had set him off this time, he surely would be able to make it all go away because for once he hadn’t done anything stupid.

He mentally did a quick count of the last twenty four hours.

Driving car over a cliff? Check but that was two days ago. Danny’s short fuse made it impossible for him to blow up in his face over something that happened two days ago.

Setting something on fire? Not recently and as far as he could recall, he hadn’t blown anything up either.

“How dare you…”Danny’s voice was loud but for once the familiar heat was absent making this all the more worse.

Steve could feel a shiver running down his spine because contrary to what he had thought a few seconds ago, this was serious.

There was no warmth in Danny’s eyes, just fury and something that looked close to betrayal and a quick glance at Chin and Kono told him that while they weren’t as upset as Danny was, they too seemed to look at him with disapproval and disappointment.

He was used to getting these looks; he had grown up with them but he hadn’t seen them in recent year and seeing them directed at him once more by people he cared for and trusted twisted his heart in a very unpleasant way that he’d rather not think about.

Apparently for once words seemed to desert Danny because instead of continuing to shout at him, he twisted out of Chin’s grip, reaching to grab something from the desk behind them, shoving a set of photos at Steve.

Steve blinked, twisting them around so he got a good look at them and he nearly dropped them in surprise because there was no way that what he was seeing could be for real.

“Seriously?”he asked, an eye brow raised because even though they appeared to be real, Danny should know better than to believe them.

They should know better…

“How dare you make fun of this.” Danny was back to shouting, snatching the photos that showed Steve in a passionate embrace with Rachel, Danny’s ex-wife and throwing them behind him.

“Get out, “Danny hissed, making to shove Steve but Steve took a few quick steps backwards.

“You can’t…”

“I don’t want your excuses.” Danny turned his back at him and for a few seconds he held Chin’s and Kono’s gaze before Kono shook her head sadly and Chin’s eyes crinkled in disappointment.

Steve stood there for a few more seconds, frozen in place, unable to believe that they weren’t even going to hear him out.

Even if the photos were true, didn’t he deserve to share his side of the story? Hadn’t he earned their friendship and the right to explain himself?

He had done nothing wrong.

He hadn’t even seen or talked to Rachel since that one stake out and frankly nothing could be as ludicrous as the idea that he would sink so low to make out with Danny’s ex-wife.

Even if he didn’t have Cathrine to scratch the itch when they both felt it, he could always just head for the nearest bar and pick up a stranger. What point could there possibly be for him to seek out Rachel and start having an affair with her?

And more importantly why would Rachel risk her new found life by hooking up with him?

Considering that the woman seemed to value money and power since she had traded up from Danny to Stan, tangling with Steve would be yet another step down in the wrong direction for her and he was pretty sure that she wasn’t someone given to affairs if it could jeopardize her life.

He wouldn’t call her a cold hearted bitch because he didn’t know her well enough for that but she clearly seemed to the type to know what she wanted and there was no way that Steve would be worth the risk of loosing what she had.

The photos were fake; they might look real and while he could accept Danny blowing up at the first sight of them, surely it would’ve dawned on him by now that there could be nothing true about them.

But apparently he had misjudged the way his friends saw him because it wasn’t just the hot head Danny who was now turning his back to him because Chin and Kono seemed to take his side as well, leaving him out in the cold.

Without another word Steve turned around and with his back ramrod straight he stalked back out into the balmy morning air.

He wasn’t going to beg for them to trust him. Clearly if after the months they had spent working together he hadn’t earned their respect and enough trust to at least ask him before finding him guilty then no mere words coming from him were going to change that.

And after how Danny had told him off for believing in evidence that Danny’s former partner Meka had been on the take it was especially sad that the man couldn’t give him the same courtesy.

With Meka Danny had ignored all the proof, going on gut instinct that told him his friend was innocent and apparently Steve didn’t warrant the same consideration.

Or maybe Steve had simply misjudged the camaraderie between them and read more into the situation than what was actually there.

And he had taken Chin’s word on him being innocent too. That his father had believed in him had helped but realistically speaking, he should’ve left Chin out in the cold because hiring a supposedly corrupt cop to be part of an elite task force had put Steve in the hot spot for a few minutes.

He hadn’t backed down then because he had believed in Chin and that had been enough for him.

It galled him to realize that his so called friends were giving him the same courtesy.

Well, he would give them a day to think things through.

##

The drive back home went quick enough even though he wasn’t really paying any attention to where he was going.

There had been no point to go back to the office to do some paperwork because he obviously hadn’t been wanted there.

So heading back home to spend a good few hours swimming off his frustration was as good a plan as any.

But much like before, events seemed to take him by surprise and only due to his excellent training did he avoid getting stabbed in the gut when he exited the car.

It spoke volumes on how distracted he really was that he hadn’t notice the car speeding in after him and he had barely had time to react when a guy had practically launched himself at him.

The knife sliced his thigh, not going in deep enough to be really dangerous but it still started to bleed fiercely and the sting was enough to bring a few tears to his eyes. He was skilled in ignoring pain though so soon enough he had the upper hand.

He was just about to subdue the guy so that he could get some answers when a loud shot rang out in the air and instinctively Steve dove behind the car to take cover.

However instead of shots being fired at him, they had been fired to distract him and before he could catch on, the man was back in the car, driving off at breakneck speed.

Steve still stayed behind the car, narrowed eyes scanning the area to look for the shooter because contrary to popular belief he only rushed into situations when he was certain that he could come out on top.

After a few minutes of finding nothing he finally hobbled around the car and just like he had expected no more shots were fired at him.

He sighed, rubbing his jaw while more or less falling onto the seat of his car. He was breathing heavily and while a hand was pressing down on his thigh, he knew that he was going to have to go and call for help.

The wound might not be deep but he had enough experience to know that it would need stitches and while he was perfectly capable of sowing himself up when he needed to, he didn’t have what he needed at the house.

So hospital it was then.

Before calling an ambulance though he called up Danny because this was a crime scene and obviously he had been a target.

Danny didn’t pick up and when prompted to leave a message Steve didn’t bother. He tried Chin and Kono next but neither one deigned him important enough to answer.

With a frown he resisted the urge to smash his phone into pieces. He had a bad track record when it came to phones anyway. They always seemed to get lost, smashed, drowned in water or sat upon so he couldn’t really risk loosing yet another one.

His head dropped forward, feeling a little bit woozy all of a sudden and with slightly shaky fingers he dialed 911. He was a grown up, had been on his own for a long time and he didn’t need anyone to hold his hand.

It was a relatively minor wound anyway, he would be out of the hospital in no time at all.

Still, there was a part of him that would’ve liked Danny to be there, ranting at him for being an idiot to get attacked in his own backyard, yelling and hand waving, showing that he cared in the loudest possible way.

Maybe it was time to reconsider this. It couldn’t be healthy to expect people to give two cents about him when apparently they didn’t.

He was barely tracking when he dialed yet another number and Danny would’ve called it his anal need to know everything that he had actually memorized Rachel’s number a few weeks back.

After all, Gracie spent quite a few days in his and Danny’s company and there was no harm in being prepared, just in case Danny was absent and he would’ve needed to call a parent.

Rachel didn’t pick up and the connection went to voice mail. For a second Steve contemplated hanging up but if Danny had received a set of fake photos than Rachel or maybe her husband had too and if they hadn’t yet, then some fair warning would surely be appreciated.

“Rachel,”he said slowly, voice husky and raw from the pain stabbing through his thigh. “I need to talk to you. It’s urgent. Call me. Or meet me. I’ll be in the hospital for a few hours…”

He disconnected the line just as the ambulance pulled up.

He closed his eyes, letting the EMTs do their job.

##Continued HERE##

Just as expected his thigh had needed a few stitches and after countless forms later, Steve was ready to be discharged.

Even if some people wanted to keep him there for a bit longer. As long as he was able to hobble on his legs and as long as he could move about and nothing important was severed, there was no need to take up a bed when someone else could be needing it much more urgently than he was.

He smiled at the cute nurse, bowing his head as he passed in a greeting and it was because of that that he nearly mowed over Rachel who had stepped into his path.

“Rachel!” Steve blinked, a half smirk on his face, taking in the tight, black suite, jacket and high heels.

She looked smart and the way she carried herself told him that she was aware of it.

“Clearly you’re free to use my first name whenever you wish…”and after a moment she tilted her head and drawled, “Steve.”

She then shoved yet another set of compromising photos at him and they shared an annoyed look.

“I see you’ve gotten them already.” Steve said pointlessly and Rachel nodded.

“Why don’t we talk this over in your office?”

Steve bit his lip, shaking his head. “Danny’s not speaking to me right now and I’d rather give him some time to cool off some more.”

“He responsible for that?” she pointed towards the bruise on his jaw and Steve shrugged, “He took me by surprise.”

“He does that, “Rachel agreed and both shared a smile that hinted at a secret they both shared. And if that secrete was called a fondness for Danny than neither one of them was going to admit it out loud.

“My place then, “and after holding out an arm that Steve ignored, she added, “I’ll drive.”

Steve opened his mouth to object but then he closed it because that actually made sense. His car was still parked at home and having her drive him there only to follow her to her home was a waste of time.

“Sure, “he said slowly, hoping that she didn’t drive like Danny because there was a reason why Steve always was behind the wheel.

##

“You want a drink?” was the first thing she said when they stepped into the cool interior of the house. “I sure as hell need one…”she mumbled, heading towards the bar and pouring two generous glasses.

“Thanks, “Steve said, accepting the glass while he slowly lowered himself onto the sofa.

“So Danny didn’t react to well to the photos?”

“That’s an understatement, “Steve answered in between sipping his drink. It was strong enough to chase away the twinges in his nerves, soothing his stomach and momentarily making the world appear rosy.

It was the good stuff and frankly he wouldn’t have expected anything else from a woman like Rachel.

“He’ll cool down, “Rachel sat down next to him, long legs stretched out while she shrugged off her high heels.

Steve shrugged because while common sense eventually would have to reassert itself for both Danny and the rest of his team, the damage was already done.

“If they don’t trust me then I don’t know where we stand.” Steve found himself admitting and for a moment Rachel was silent.

“I get that.”

No one said anything for a few more moments before Rachel pulled up the photos again.

“They look realistic enough. I would’ve been fooled if I hadn’t known any better.” She said and Steve pursed his lips, “Did Stan see them?”

“No, he’s in Hong Kong.” And after yet another moment, “I went though his mail and they caught my attention.”

“So they were addressed to him and not to you?”

“Yes.”

“Hm….”

“What?” Rachel demanded to know and Steve looked up, holding her gaze.

“I find it curious that copies were sent to your husband and to Danny. And then I was assaulted in front of my home.”

“You reckon those aren’t coincidences?” she asked and Steve shook his head, answering, “Coincidences are only a reflection of well planning because nothing is truly random.”

“But who was the target?” she asked and Steve shrugged.

The attack would lead him to suspect that someone was after him which would be kind of business as usual. But faking these photos didn’t only take skill it also took money and why go there in the first place?

“I don’t know, “he admitted, “Faking photos like that couldn’t have been easy or cheap and if taking me out was the end game then why bother with them in the first place?”

“So someone’s after me?” and Steve had to give her credit, Rachel’s voice didn’t even quiver, it only held curiosity and disbelieve.

“It makes no sense, “Steve mumbled, thinking out loud, words forming as new ideas popped into his head. “If they wanted me dead, they could’ve simply shot me.”

“True.”

“So why go through all this trouble? But why would you or Stan be a target and even if it’s you guys they are after, why come after me?”

“Getting two birds with one stone?” Rachel offered and Steve frowned, shrugging. It wasn’t impossible but it sounded too far fetched even for him.

“Why don’t we focus on the photos instead?” Rachel suggested, leaning closer to get a second look. “Maybe finding out how they were made and by whom would help.”

“You’re right, “Steve admitted, “This is excellent work and there can’t be that many people capable of pulling it off.”

“Do you known someone?”

“No, but I know where to go to find out.”

Rachel nodded, getting up, “I’m coming with you then. Give me a minute to change.”

And before Steve could object or tell her that he already had a partner and even if he didn’t he wouldn’t put her in any danger, she had walked out of the room, leaving only her high heels behind.

Somehow that looked ominous to him.

##

Since Rachel was a woman of class and obviously valued good clothes, it took a conscious effort on his part to close his mouth when only after a few minutes (he had expected her to take half an hour at least) she strolled back into the room, dressed in form fitting blue jeans, flat, comfortable shoes and a loose shirt that clearly showed off that she must spend hours working out.

Steve closed his mouth, catching the knowing look in Rachel eyes.

“Look, “she said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “There are things I’ve never told Danny or Stan for the matter.”

“Such as?” Steve couldn’t help it, he was intrigued.

He wasn’t attracted to her because he didn’t work that way. Maybe if he had met her in a bar somewhere and maybe if he hadn’t known that she was Danny’s former love but that wasn’t how things had worked out.

And now she was firmly slotted under do not touch and there was no coming back from that.

“Danny has a tendency to see things in black and white.” She said and Steve nodded because yes, he had observed that.

“Grey doesn’t really work out for him which I guess is what makes him such a good cop but it made it impossible to ever tell him that my family life wasn’t all that law-abiding.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s not like we’re some sort of low lives, “Rachel almost sounded offended, straightening her shirt. “We pay taxes but I’ve got a few uncles and aunts and maybe a few second cousins who dabble with other things at times and even though I haven’t join in that side of our family business, I still know a few things. Have contacts…”

“Alright.”

“And I know how to use this.” She said, casually pulling a nice handgun from the back of her jeans.

Steve’s eyes nearly popped out and for a few moments he was speechless before nodding as casually as he could.

Clearly there was more to Rachel than he would’ve ever suspected but maybe that was for the best.

If his own partner and his team weren’t going to be around to have his back then it was good to know that Rachel at least would be able to make up for it.

“What?” she asked, head tilted sideways, “No comments at all?”

Steve shrugged, going for nonchalant even though he didn’t quite feel it. But his poker face was good enough that Rachel couldn’t tell just how surprised he was.

It only proved that people usually tended to wear masks and even if you think you know someone you never really do.

“So you’ve got skills, “Steve drawled, his famous half smirk ghosting over his face, “I consider myself lucky that you’re not some useless housewife.”

That comment elicited a snort from Rachel and moments later they were out of the house.

It was only in the car that it occurred to Steve to wonder where Grace was. “Where’s Grace?”

“She’s on a sleep over tonight, “she said, “She won’t be home until tomorrow and then Danny’s got her for the Saturday.”

That would work in their favour so when Rachel started the ignition he simply told her were to go.

“I’ll need my gun though.”

“Don’t you have that on you?” Rachel wondered, eyeing him while driving.

And normally that would be true, Steve was always armed in one way or the other but this morning he had left one gun at home and the other was still in his desk at work.

And if they stopped at the office then he could also get his knife and he was all for that.

“You sure you want to risk running into Danny? I know him, he might need some time to cool off.”

Steve said he was sure even though he actually wasn’t but he couldn’t wait around for Danny to cool his heels and start thinking rationally again.

Something was happening and he wasn’t risking his own life or Rachel’s to wait for Danny to calm down.

“He’ll have to deal with my presence for a bit and if he wants to have another go at me, then I will be ready this time.”

“Men, “Rachel mumbled in exasperation but that was all she said on that topic.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence because while they might be together in this they were far from being friends.

##

The moment they walked into the office, all eyes were on them.

Steve of course had expected that but there still was a big difference between knowing and experiencing it.

He chose to ignore the stares, gesturing for Rachel to wait while he went to his office to retrieve his spare gun and knife.

The silence was so thick that he might actually need his knife to hack his way out and that thought almost made him snort.

It didn’t take him long to retrieve his things and when he stepped back out a few minutes later he was just in time to see Rachel casually reaching back, retrieving her gun and checking her ammunition.

The way she handled the gun, almost lovingly and with care had jaws dropping left and right and with a smirk Steve noted that they might have something in common after all.

He did like his toys. He could recall the last time a shipment for a new rifle had arrived and he had barely managed to suppress the urge jump up and down with glee like a child on Christmas morning.

What could he say? He liked his weapons.

Rachel expertly checked her gun before putting it back behind her blouse which she had chosen to wear to hide the gun. They weren’t trying to draw attention to themselves after all.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Danny was on him in no time, staring at Rachel as if she had grown two heads while eyeing Steve warily.

“Are you sure it’s wise to be here, boss?” Kono stepped slightly up to him, not stopping him but slowing him down regardless.

Her eyes were caring but it didn’t change the fact that she too thought he had been stepping out with Danny’s ex wife.

Chin was nowhere to be seen which Steve considered a blessing.

Danny was puffing out breath as if he was a steam machine and Steve actually felt a stab of worry that the man might give himself a heart attack.

He considered trying to defend himself, explain what had happened but if his slightly limp hadn’t clued anyone in that something was going on then why bother?

Rachel though got there first, smiling widely at Steve with a gleam in her eyes that had him almost instantly wary.

He knew that look. Danny always got that shifty look when he was thinking of doing something stupid and he had even witnessed it a few times on Grace.

“Does Stan know that you’re cheating on him?” Danny’s slowly raising voice was now focused on Rachel whose reply was to actually change her smile into a smirk that somehow didn’t seem right on her face.

“Oh he does know, “she drawled, drawing out the words, changing her stance so that her hips were pushing forward seductively. “And you know?” she asked, “Sometimes he not only watches Steve and me get it on, sometimes he even joins us!”

This time Steve couldn’t help the amused snort that escaped him and while he watched Danny’s face colour in an alarming shade of red before trying to go ghostly white, Rachel had to add fuel to the fire by saying, “Do you want to know the sound Steve makes when he…”

Her voice trailed off suggestively and before she could rile Danny up even further to end in a nuclear explosion that would decimate the whole island, Steve grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the room.

“What was that?” he asked her, not really angry but just baffled as to why she had done that.

“If he is that stupid to believe that I’m sleeping with you then I can’t help him.” And after a second, “Did you see his face?”

Steve rolled his eyes because yes, Danny’s face and Kono’s startled expression had been priceless, he had to admit that.

“And he deserved it, “she added in a quieter tone of voice.

Steve shrugged, “He does believe I betrayed his trust.”

“No, “Rachel was quick to say, stopping Steve by placing a hand on his arm. “He should know better. Stan didn’t doubt my word even after I faxed the photos to him.”

Steve had to agree with that so he chose to continue walking and moments later Rachel fell into step with him.

Neither one of them saw Chin ducking behind a corner, a thoughtful expression on his face.

##Continued HERE##

One burnt down building, a car chase that ended with yet another car going off a cliff (well, it wasn't really a cliff, Steve hedged in his mind, it was more like a slump that ended in water) and a minor explosion that threw him into a wall, they ended up sitting out in the street, panting rapidly.

“That was...that was...”Rachel mumbled, obviously short for breath, before saying, “Is it always like that with you?”

Steve shrugged because seriously, this mess really wasn't his fault at all.

He hadn't started the fight; he hadn't lit the match that the set the building on fire and he most certainly wasn't responsible for people storing chemicals in places where they shouldn't. How was he supposed to know that one errand bullet going through a closet would make everything go boom?

“Well...”Rachel drawled out, slowly getting up and holding a hand out for Steve to grab, “I can see why Danny is always in such a mood. If that's a daily occurrence then no wonder he's always on edge.”

That off hand comment set Steve's teeth on edge because why did he always get the blame for these things? He hadn't started this mess! He hadn't faked pictures and sent them all over the place and he most certainly hadn't done anything that he was aware off that had driven someone around the bend enough wanting to not only kill him but also Rachel.

Well, no one wanted her dead but this whole thing still made his head hurt.

“I didn't mean..”Rachel sighed, “You're high maintenance, I can see that and I guess that's what Danny likes.”

“Huh, “was all Steve had to say to that because from where he was standing it more looked like as if Danny wasn't going to talk to him ever again and it was probably because his ears were still ringing and because his leg was hurting him again (never minding his back from where he had gotten flung into yet another wall) that he let the comment about being high maintenance slide.

“Let's go back to your place, I've got an idea...”Rachel was already up and walking towards to where they had left her car and since Steve had nothing else to say he simply followed.

This time he did the driving and thankfully the woman didn't have any other comments to make so the drive back to his place was silent.

Once on the inside he offered her a shower and some clean clothes and while they would probably look funny on her it was going to be better than the dirty clothes she was wearing now.

“Drink first, “she said and he nodded, grabbing two beers from the fridge.

On the porch she took a deep sip before her eyes were on him.

“I think I've got this figured out,”she said and Steve made a gesture that was supposed to convey I am all ears.

“If they simply kill you there will be an investigation and even though there's probably a lot of people you pissed off the list surely can't be that long that sooner or later Danny or the others won't find the person responsible.”

“I suppose so, “Steve offered warily, not sure where she was going with this.

“And knowing how close you and Danny and the rest of the team are it is reasonable to assume that if anything happens to you they would be like bull dogs out to get whoever killed you.”

That is what Steve would've thought until earlier on but clearly he had been mistaken.

Wait a minute, his brow furrowed and then he could literally see Rachel's train of thought forming pictures before his inner mind.

“But if they make it look as if I got killed in a jealous rage then it would derail the investigation, “he continued while Rachel nodded.

“I don't know, “she said slowly, “if they wanted to put Danny in the lime light or if they wanted to put the blame on Stan...”

“Which would've been stupid since he is out of the country...”Steve offered up and Rachel shrugged, “My man is wealthy,”she said, “he could've hired someone to do it for him.”

“Anyway, “Steve added, “let's not over think this. This wasn't supposed to be a frame job holding up in court. They just wanted me dead and out of the way and gain some time so that they could do whatever it is that they wanted to in peace and quiet while everyone was throwing accusations around and chasing their tails.”

“Yes, “Rachel agreed, “and with the added bonus of our supposed affair, Danny would be in the hot spot, maybe even put on leave temporarily because he clearly is compromised by the whole thing and while Chin and Kono seem competent enough, having a team suddenly without the two leaders can leave anyone spinning for a while.”

Steve took a deep sip from his bottle, mulling this over. “This is a crazy idea, “he said quietly, staring out onto the sand and then watching the waves slowly roll up onto the beach. “But it makes sense.”

“Yeah, “Rachel said slowly, “they screwed up because you're not dead but I guess the whole mess only started this morning, if you end up dead soon enough they probably still get what they are looking for.”

“Right, “Steve got up, putting the beer down, “Let's get some things from the house and then I think we should move.”

“Do you have any idea who would want you dead?”

“I don't know, “Steve said slowly, rubbing his face. One name came to mind who wanted him dead but Hesse was behind bars and even though the man could probably call in a few favors he was sure that he was more the hands on kind of guy who would like to be there when he finished Steve off.

So without Hesse this might not be personal at all.

Their task force had made quite a name for itself and anyone coming onto the islands would hear of them rather quickly. If someone wanted to work unobserved for a little while then taking out the head of H50 would work in his favor.

And he thought that maybe this wasn't supposed to be some long running operation. Maybe they simply wanted to move something in or something off the islands and they didn't' want anyone looking over their shoulders.

If that was the case, and he would bet his life that it was, then this was time sensitive and they needed to get a move on.

And for that they needed the recourses that his team had to offer so Danny and the others were simply going to have to suck it up and work with him on this one. Regardless what they thought of him, it was still their job to catch criminals and he was still their boss.

“Steve?”

Rachel's hand on his arm stopped him in his tracks and he turned around, blue eyes looking at her curiously.

“When this is over, you'll forgive Danny for being an idiot, right?” she asked and Steve tilted his head, shrugging.

She repeated his name and for a moment he was tempted to not explain himself because he didn't know this woman and just because she seemed to be alright after all, having his back throughout the crazy day didn't mean that he should suddenly let her into his most private thoughts.

Still, while he was mulling things over in his head he found himself talking, answering her question.

“It isn't so much about forgiving him,”he said slowly, “or the others. It's about knowing that your team has your back, that they trust you. That I can count that regardless of what happens they would ask me first and then pass judgment later.”

“Isn't that a bit black and white?”

“Maybe, “Steve admitted,”but in the line of fire it is important to know that your team will have your back, that they trust you and won't question your orders.”

“This isn't the military, “she objected and yes, Steve knew that but the principle still applied.

“How can I trust them after this?” he said slowly, blue eyes narrowing because no, there wasn't a stabbing pain in his heart because he wasn't five and he wasn't a girl and he didn't get misty eyed because his friends didn't like him any more. He wasn't that kind of person.

Growing up he had learned early on that he couldn't depend on people even if they said they loved him because love was a totally different kind of shoe than trust. You could love somebody and still distrust them and in his line of work where he put his life in danger almost every single day to keep his home safe, it was important to know that he could always count on the person right next to him.

“Aren't you being a bit too hard on Danny and your team?”

Steve frowned because no, he wasn't. “I'll forgive Danny.”He said slowly, knowing that this was true, “He'll say he was sorry and I nod and I will accept it but when it comes down to it, I'll always wonder if one day he won't get a bee up his ass again and decide that I've done something wrong and maybe that day will be when I will need his back up again and instead of trusting me and accepting that I will explain everything to him later, he will leave me in the cold...and then...”

A hand on his arm distracted him again, “This happened before?”Rachel asked quietly and Steve nodded.

It happened to him once and it nearly cost him the lives of his team. The mission had been fairly easy but then it had all fallen on their heads when someone under his command had been accused of raping a local girl. The evidence had been against the man but Steve had known it was wrong because he and that guy had shared a blow job and a few kisses when no one had been looking.

He couldn't confess to that but even without knowing for sure that his friend couldn't have done this, he would've still not taking someone else's word without studying the evidence.

Then, he didn't know what he would've done because the evidence had been solid and it had been Danny who had introduced him to the concept of taking something on faith.

Either way, the truth had won out in the end but it had hammered it home that in their line of work, you needed to know that your team mates would have your back through anything and he knew that he couldn't trust Danny, Chin and Kono like he would've done twenty four hours ago.

He would forgive all of them once they knew the truth but nothing they could say would change the fact that they should've known what kind of man he was. He had his faults; he was probably not someone easy to like or to live with or even work with but he wasn't the kind of man that would sleep with another man's woman. Even if she was the man's ex wife.

If they thought that he was capable of something like that then he honestly didn't know what to do.

Once trust was broken it couldn't easily be fixed and since he didn't really trust easily to begin with he knew that there was no coming back for him after that.

He simply couldn't.

“What will you do then?” she asked, obviously finally having understood what he had been trying to say.

“Go back, I'm on reserve now, there's nothing stopping me from joining back up again.” he answered simply and it was settled then, right then and there.

Once this was done, he would leave. His team would be fine without him, they clearly didn't need him and he would take his stupid attraction to Danny and shelf it and try not to think of it again.

It probably won't work but if working with someone who obviously didn't trust him, regardless of all the big words and the flirting that would indicate otherwise, then a relationship with that person was totally out of the question.

He sighed; it had been nice. The few months he had been home had actually felt like he had come home and it would be hard to leave it all behind but clearly he had been living in a fairy tale and the house of cards he had built had just come crumbling down.

Better to move and back to his former life.

And yes, he was aware that he had trust issues. Someone else might be able to let live and forget but his life had taught him different and honestly, was it that much to ask to have at least one person in his life who would take his word over so called evidence? Was that too much to ask?

Well, apparently it was and no, he wasn't maudlin over it.

Regardless of what it might look like.

##Continued HERE##

Years of living out of a duffel bag; never knowing where he would be from one day to next and even during the rare times he had holidays or some free time between missions, there had never really been a time for him to put down roots anywhere.

And no place had ever quite felt like home and maybe coming back to Hawaii was necessary for him to realize that the islands were always going to his sanctuary.

So it didn't take him long to stuff a few things into a duffel bag, including a spare gun and some knives and then he was out the door locking it behind him.

Rachel had gone ahead, taking her car and going back home because it was one thing for him to just leave his home and disappear for a few days but Rachel didn't have the luxury.

He was going to meet her at her home, spend the night in one of her many guest rooms while she got things sorted and he hatched a plan to find the guys out to kill him and maybe ruin her life as a side project.

He still doubted that she was any sort of target; she had been picked because it would rile Danny up and set things in motion but just because he doubted that anyone was actually going to try and harm her, didn't mean that she wasn't going to get caught in the cross fire.

And besides, the two of them had caused quite a lot of waves today and maybe that had elevated her from side project to main target. Anything was possible and he wasn't going to be able to rest until he was sure that everyone in his circle of friends was taken care of.

Even if the majority of that circle wasn't speaking to him at the moment.

It took him by surprise then when after a loud shot rang through the air a warm body hurled itself at him, taking him down surprisingly easy.

He grunted as his side his the ground, his leg twisting underneath him and the sudden flare of pain in his shoulder told him in no uncertain terms that he had just been shot (again) and that if someone hadn't shoved him so rudely out of the way, he would've been hit where there wouldn't have been any coming for him.

“Stay down you idiot, “Danny hissed in his ear and Steve was frozen for a few seconds in surprise and then despite the inappropriate moment, his dick twitched because Danny was pressing close to him and wasn't that all kinds of good?

He sniffed, taking in the the smell of sweat, old aftershave and something that could only be described as being uniquely Danny and for a moment his world was alright.

Clearly his brain had gotten addled somewhere but there wasn't anything to be done about that now.

“Get off me, “he grumbled, shoving at the man plastered to him as if he was some sort of life line and if Danny let go he would tumble to his death. At any other time this might have been flattering or foreplay but right now Danny was in between him and his gun and with people shooting at them, he didn't much appreciate being held down.

Wait minute, people were shooting at them!

He clearly was addled that it had taken him this long to translate getting shot in the arm to bullets flying left and right and with yet another grunt, he twisted out from underneath Danny, reaching behind him to grab his gun.

Something whizzed passed him and he only got off one shot towards the shooter who seemed to be ducked behind a bush somewhere before Danny literally grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him through his front door.

Steve stumbled, nearly falling face down onto the ground before his obviously gone mad partner barreled into him again, dragging him behind the wall as if he had never heard about duck and cover.

He opened his mouth but Danny cut him off, “Not know, let me see where you got shot.”

And before Steve could offer up any responds at all, the blond man was tugging at his shirt, mumbling his usual remarks about how careless Steve was and how he was lucky that he managed to have him as a partner because otherwise he would surely have ended up dead by now and honestly Steve felt as if he had been dropped in the twilight zone because hadn't Danny more or less told him to get lost not that many hours ago?

And now he was fussing over him as if Steve was something fragile and he was just about to set Danny straight when another familiar voice shouted form the outside, “All clear. We got them all.”

Then Kono strode into the room, a phone already in hand calling 911.

Steve cringed as Danny put too much pressure on the wound but he stayed silent regardless of the curious looks that Kono and Danny sent his way.

“Chin's out back, making sure they're all secured, “she filled him in and Steve nodded in agreement but not offering up anything himself.

“Look boss, “she said slowly, clearly uncomfortable by it all, “I just want to say that I'm sorry about earlier on. It wasn't right how I reacted and I'm sorry for it. If you want me off the team...well I'd understand but I want you to know that it will never happen again...”

Steve cut her off by raising his good arm and she shut up so that he could say, “Don't worry, Kono.” he sent her a weak smile, “You're a good cop, you belong on the task force and I'll make sure that doesn't change. Hell, if I have any say in it, Danny will be your new boss but either way, you're fine. Don't worry about it.”

Kono's mouth opened and closed and then she sent a panicked looked towards Danny that clearly said, fix it now.

“Let's get you checked out first and then we talk, alright?” Danny said reasonably, his smile wide on his face but his eyes were troubled.

Steve nodded because as much he wasn't looking forward to that conversation he knew it had to be had.

##

Hours later after forcibly discharging himself form the hospital he finally managed to get back.

The side trip to the governor's home hadn't been pleasant either and the woman had been close enough to beg him to reconsider. When she had seen that he wasn't digging around, that he was serious about this she had simply said that if he ever changed his mind, he would get his old job back in a heartbeat, regardless of who was put in charge in the mean time.

Steve had simply thanked her, planted a quick kiss on her cheek and after sending her a famous half smirk of his, he had walked out into the night.

He rubbed his face.

This had been a long day.

When he had woken up this morning his world had been alright. There had been Danny in his life and he had been looking forward to many more rants and fights which back then he had clearly considered as foreplay.

And even if they had never led to anything sexual, it would've been fun and he had felt at home, as if he had a place in the world and for once he had actually been happy.

Not that he would've ever said something like that out loud but in the privacy of his own mind he might just as well admit it.

Then it had all come crashing down and regardless of how much he wanted to turn back time and go back it wasn't going to happen.

One quick phone call later and he was back, shipping out tomorrow and then who knew were.

He rubbed his face, falling into an uneasy sleep that was interrupted by a loud bang in the morning.

“Danny, “he said, opening the door, his bags behind him.

He was ready to go and while Danny strode into his house he quickly pulled on his clothes, packing up the last few things before handing over a spare set of keys to the blond man.

“I'd appreciate it if you looked after this place, “he said, “You can bring Grace over any time you want and feel free to use it. Hell, if you'd finally move out of your ratty apartment you can move in here, I don't mind.”

“Steve.”

“Just as long as you don't mess things up too much or at least clean up after yourself because you're a bit of a slob and I...”

“Steve...”hands on his arms stopped him in his tracks and his blue eyes settled on Danny's.

“I'm sorry, man, “the other man said, “I screwed up big time but that's no reason for you to run away with your tail between your legs. We can work this out.”

“I'm not mad, “Steve said slowly and Danny interrupted him again, “Then why leave? I'll say it every day if you want, I am sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out like that but after Rachel cheated on me I sort of lost it when I saw the pictures...”

“How did you find out that they were fake?” Steve derailed Danny because that wasn't something he had learned yet. There hadn't been time and maybe he was rushing his departure a little bit but then again why let a wound fester if a clean cut might actually be better?

“Chin, “Danny said slowly, “overheard you two talking in the hall way and then he did some digging and he found out that even though they were good, the photos were still fakes.”

“I see, “because it had been Chin who had got the ball rolling and Danny because he had finally realized that Steve wouldn't do such a thing.

“And after watching Rachel play with a gun and her snide comments I finally realized that you weren't that kind of person to do that. You might not be a saint but you wouldn't break a child's heart by messing with her parents and after I finally realized that I just knew that regardless of what the pictures showed me, you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't do that to me.”

Steve felt tempted to say something nasty but he bit his tongue and waited Danny out because clearly the man wasn't done.

The grip on his arms was gone now because Danny's hands were once again flailing right and left and it was strange that the guy wasn't shouting, instead he was quiet and intense which told Steve that this was Danny caring and meaning every single word he said.

Not that it was going to make a difference but it still would warm his heart.

“I just got so angry and it was...well, I like you, you know that and seeing that...”Danny rubbed his face and with a faint smile, Steve reached out, putting a finger over Danny's lips, shutting the man up for once.

“I get it, “he said, voice even but also with a hint of sadness, “But it doesn't change the fact that you didn't trust me. Neither one you did. And while I've forgiven all you for it, I know that you're sorry that it won't happen again, I can't change the fact that I obviously don't have your trust.”

“Steve...”it was now Danny's turn to look flustered but Steve ignored him, explaining himself again like he had done with Rachel only yesterday. He didn't like these heart to hearts but it was necessary so it had to be done.

He owed Danny an explanation and this was him doing it.

“I've got trust issues, I know, “he said with a sad half smirk and a shrug of his shoulders, “But I've learned that out in the field the only thing that matters is that your team has your back. You don't have the friends or hell, I don't even have to like the guy working next to me but what I do need to know is that when the heat comes down on us, he will be there right beside me, no matter what.”

“Steve...”

“No,”Steve said firmly, “I get that you're sorry. And the next time around you probably won't do it again but I can't change what happened. You didn't trust me. When you told me that it didn't matter what the evidence said, that you knew your friend Meka wasn't on the take, I admired that. And I sort of expected to at least be given a chance to explain myself but instead you immediately wrote me off.”

“Steve...”

Steve rubbed his face, feeling tired all over again but this needed to be said before he lost his momentum.

“I don't have your trust, “he simply said, “and I thought I had it and you can't just say you're sorry and suddenly all is roses again. It doesn't work that way.”

Danny was quiet now so maybe it was finally sinking in that Steve wasn't going to change his mind.

“I'd rather be here. I'd rather it was yesterday morning and I was on my way into the office, looking forward to you ranting about something or other...I want that back too but I can't turn back time. I can't overlook that after all those months where I thought you were my friend you actually never trusted me enough to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

“I can't change your mind?” Danny sounded resigned and for a moment Steve wanted to do exactly that. Throw it all out the window, take it all back and stay here with Danny.

But it wouldn't be real because deep down he would always wonder when Danny would start mistrusting him again, when something else would come up and he would be left without back up and while he knew that he was probably being too harsh about this, that he should be more trusting or forgiving, he knew that he couldn't.

He was a product of what he had been taught and a leopard couldn't change his spots, regardless of how much he wanted to.

Maybe in time, maybe one day he could come back and they could start anew but right now he didn't have it in him to go back and fake it all. And fake it would be because he no longer trusted any of his team, he no longer trusted Danny as implicitly as he had twenty four hours ago.

There was no band aid for that. It didn't matter how much he wished that there was, reality didn't bend to what he wanted.

“No, “he finally said before adding, “I'm sorry, I would've liked to see if we could've been more...”and then he leaned forward, grabbing Danny by the neck, hauling him into a soft kiss.

Their lips met and quite chaste for Steve's usually taste that was where it stop. He licked Danny's lips, closing his eyes for a few seconds before letting go.

“Goodbye, Danno, “he said softly before he walked out the door, leaving a stunned Danny behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can also follow this story on LJ and the master post for it is here:
> 
> http://community.livejournal.com/kuhekabir_fics/82033.html
> 
> You can comment there if you like.

Part 2 – How it begins again.

“Stevie!” the voice shook him to the core, nearly causing him to fall off his barstool and considering his training that wasn’t something that happened all that often.

“There you are!” Danny’s voice added and Steve scrunched up his nose and squeezed his eyes shut because there was no way that Danny Williams, the man he had left behind months ago had somehow managed to end up in the same non descript hotel in the middle of Miami at the same time as he was there.

It was impossible and while fate sometimes worked in mysterious ways, it wasn’t that crafty.

He forced his blue eyes open, slowly turning around in his seat because any quick movement might send him falling sideways and he had no interest of going back to the hospital anytime soon.

If it were up to him he would’ve discharged himself weeks ago but rehab took time. It had been tiring though to get told over and over again that he should consider himself lucky because he felt anything but lucky.

But no one had asked him and the moment he had been somewhat steady he had bailed. The rest he could do on his own. He worked better that way anyway.

He rubbed his face, his body slightly twisted towards where the Danny-sound-alike voice had come from and he nearly did fall off the chair when he actually saw Danny Williams strolling towards him with a wide smile on his face.

There was a strange man at his side and Steve was about to open his mouth to first of all, discourage Danny from ever calling him Stevie again and then to ask what the hell he was doing there.

He only got as far as opening his lips though because he caught Danny’s slightly alarmed gaze and then the man was mouthing: Play along.

Steve’s mouth snapped shut.

He had no idea what was going on but if Danny wanted him to play along then for the time being he could do just that.

Despite everything a slow smile spread across Steve’s face when Danny got closer but that smile turned into a slight wide-eyed look when Danny didn’t stop there. Instead he invaded his personal space, pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose while wrapping one hand around Steve’s shoulders.

He found himself squeezed and it was only thanks to his training, at least he was calling it that and not frozen out of shock, that he didn’t break Danny’s hand.

That it felt good was beside the point.

“So this is your elusive boyfriend?” the stranger asked, walking up close until he was leaning against the bar and was carefully crowding Steve’s space.

He narrowed his eyes because if the man came any closer he wasn’t responsible for what he was going to do.

The bar was fancy enough that the music was playing low key and that the lighting was dim enough to make everything appear to be muted while still being bright enough to avoid people from tripping all over themselves.

His small duffle bag holding all of his belongings, at least those that he had taken with him when he had left, was lying beside him, wretched in between his stool and the bar.

“Can I get you guys anything?” the lady behind the bar smiled winningly at all of them and while Steve couldn’t speak for Danny or for the still unnamed stranger he shook his head.

He had been nursing his soda water for quite some time and even though he was tempted to ask for a beer he knew better than that.

His medication might not take kindly to being mixed with alcohol and he had enough issues to deal with without creating more.

“Yes, “Danny answered with caused Steve to jerk, trying to twist out of Danny’s embrace to ask the man what he was smoking.

Danny moved even closer, nuzzling his ear, which was a very effective cover to whisper into Steve’s ear, “Please, just play along. I’ll explain later.”

Steve went perfectly still, forcing a smile on his face that looked fake to anyone who knew him.

“Steve meet Harold.”

Steve blinked but then he recalled some manners and he held out his hand.

The hand grabbing his was strong and callused but he didn’t much like the interest the man was bestowing on him.

He felt like a bug being exposed underneath a microscope and he didn’t much care for that feeling.

The tiny hairs on the back of his neck rose, a clear indication that his sixth sense was trying to tell him that his guy wasn’t quite right.

Maybe it was one predator recognizing another, whatever it was, it had Steve on full alert.

He marginally relaxed into Danny’s hold and he was rewarded with a little squeeze on his shoulder from the blond man to show his support.

“A pleasure to finally meet you Steve. I’ve heard only good things about you.”

“Same here, “Steve lied, his best game face on and it seemed to work because the man nodded as if Steve had just said something of great importance.

His dislike for the man grew but he knew how to keep his emotions off of his face.

“I’ll see you at the luncheon tomorrow then.” Harold concluded in a nasal tone and he could feel Danny nodding beside him.

“Of course, we’ll be there.”

There was a quick wave from Harold and then the man walked away leaving Steve alone with Danny and that shouldn’t have been alarming at all and yet it was.

For a few seconds neither man moved and Steve got the impression that Danny actually wanted to hold on to him to ensure that he wasn’t going to vanish into thin air.

The separation had been hard for him too but he honestly hadn’t seen any other way. Trust was very important to him and frankly it was the basis for everything.

You’re a coward…

Mary’s voice echoed through Steve’s mind and he mentally shook himself, brushing it off.

How do you think Danny can ever regain your trust if you’re not there?

Don’t you at least owe it to yourself to give him and your friends a second chance?

He couldn’t say that Mary hadn’t been on to something. He was fully aware that some might call him a hard bastard and he wouldn’t be able to say it was a lie.

But nothing he had thought of had changed the fact that after ranking at him for not trusting in Danny’s judgment when it came to Meka, Danny had turned around and done exactly the same thing to him.

Even worse, Steve at least had given Danny the chance to explain while Danny had simply believed the worst.

And Kono and Chin had done the same. They had changed their minds, they had come through for him in the end but once trust was broken Steve honestly hadn’t known how to go about restoring it.

So yes, maybe he had run to lick his wounds but how could he have gone back to work, trusting his life to his partner and friends as if nothing had changed?

He couldn’t have done that…he simply couldn’t have.

That didn’t mean that he didn’t regret walking away, that he didn’t mourn what he had lost because he did.

Going back to his old family, the SEALS hadn’t been all he had hoped it would be because they had been stale in comparison to what he thought he had had in Hawaii.

In the end though life had intervened for him and now he had no place left to go to.

“Steve, “Danny was finally letting go, taking a few steps away from him but he was still close enough to be in Steve’s space.

Danny though he didn’t mind, he could always be in his space; Steve was just fine with that.

“How are you?”

Steve blinked, not sure why he was surprised by the question but he still was.

“Fine, Danny, just fine.” he sent a weak smile towards his former partner and from the way his brow furrowed he was pretty sure that Danny didn’t quite believe him.

The man didn’t call him on it though so Steve was thankful for some small favors.

“Do you have a room here?” he asked and Steve shook his head because no, he hadn’t gotten that far yet.

He had taken a cab here, randomly picking a hotel and then he had gone straight to the bar. Never mind that he couldn’t actually drink at the moment but he had wanted to soak up the atmosphere and to just chill for a while.

“Good, good…”Danny said, rubbing his chin before his blue eyes focused on Steve once more. “I’ll explain in minute. Can you get your things and come with me?”

“Sure, Danno, I can do that.” The endearment was off his lips before he could stop himself and even Danny looked startled before he broke out into a wide smile.

Steve slowly turned, making sure that one hand was grabbing something solid all the time before bending down to retrieve his bag.

His balance was a lot better now but there were times when it did fail him. And when he was nervous or anxious it often made it worse.

He flung the bag over his shoulders, nodding towards Danny who took Steve again by surprise by grabbing his hand and guiding him towards the elevator.

The hotel was fancy enough that the lobby made Steve nervous and it was sort of unreal to see that Danny seemed to be in his element.

He shook it off, sharing the silence with his former partner until the elevator binged and they exited on the tenth floor.

Danny took out a key card from his back pocket and then opened the door, allowing Steve to step through first as if he was a woman and Danny was holding the door open for him.

With a scowl Steve entered and when he saw the set up he stopped, causing Danny to bump into his back.

“Don’t just stand there,”the man said, “move, move…”

Steve’s muscles finally started working again and he stepped further into the room, depositing his duffle on the ground while with a slight wide-eyed looked stood by the wall.

The hotel room was like any other hotel room, even in an expensive hotel like this. The walls were held in generic white while the furniture was in some sort of feint blue color and the bed was huge enough for three.

The room did have an airy feeling to it, so maybe it couldn’t possibly be called shabby but neither one of those things were the reason why he had been so surprised upon entering.

Two monitors were hooked up to a portable drive and a video feed was recording the main lobby and bar area.

Notes and files were strewn across the room and on the bed and overall it looked more like a messy conference room than like a hotel room.

Before Steve could ask for some sort of answers though, Danny firmly closed the door firmly behind them and then he lived up to his name as a hot head because he whirled past Steve, punching the tall, dark haired guy who had been leaning against the bathroom door, firmly in the face.

Steve snorted because this was surely going to be amusing.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Danny started to holler while the Latin looking man held his jaw.

“Now Danny, hold on there for a minute, “the second man in the room spoke up, raising his hands as if a mere hand gesture would deflate the volcano that was also known as Danny Williams.

Steve had been on the receiving end of Danny’s rants often enough that the best course of action was to just let the man vent.

Trying to stop him or talk reason to him while he was in one of his moods was counter productive and only served to draw out the explosion. If he instead let Danny vent, using up all his energy until nothing was left then afterwards Steve stood a chance to speak his mind.

It had worked in the past and while it wasn’t foolproof it was the best way to deal with Danny.

Sadly though the man either wanted Danny to explode all the way up to the moon or he hadn’t yet understood that part about the man.

“Garcia was supposed to meet me in the lobby half an hour ago, “Danny said to the other man before focusing his heated gaze once again onto the one called Garcia.

“What are you playing at?” Danny stepped closer, actually poking the man in the chest.

“I couldn’t go through with it.”

“Couldn’t go through with it?” Danny echoed back, looking perplexed and furious at the same time. “This isn’t some prom date where you get to change your mind!” he shouted and Steve watched how Danny tried to rein his temper in by balling his fingers into tight fists.

“You were supposed to play my boyfriend. This isn’t up for debate! This is a case and you can’t just walk away from it without telling your partner about it!”

Now Steve felt the all too familiar stirrings of anger because if that was what the man had done then Danny’s anger wasn’t only justified it was well deserved.

“Is that true?” the other man whose name Steve still had to learn turned his now slightly hostile gaze onto the other man. “You told me you had talked to Danny…”

“I sent a text.”

“You did what?” Danny wasn’t screeching by any means but it was coming close and this time when the man lunged forward to launch himself at Garcia it was the other man who grabbed Danny and pulled him back.

“Let me deal with this, “and only when Danny gave a jerking nod, did he let go, turning around to face Garcia who looked now slightly uncomfortable.

“I couldn’t go through with it, “the man repeated, “I’m not gay.”

Danny’s eyes narrowed again and his entire body twitched, gearing up to jump the man and to probably strangle him but it never got that far.

“That’s not the point,” the voice of reason said calmly, “You’re relieved of duty. I’ll deal with you when I get back to the office.”

“Hastings, now wait a minute…”

“Go.” Hastings said and he clearly held some authority because Garcia nodded and stalked out of the room.

“Did that just really happen?” Danny asked, rubbing his face. “I mean, I knew the man was an ass and conceited on top of it but I thought he was a good cop.”

“I’m sorry Danny, “Hastings apologized, “So did I.”

And then finally his presence was noted because all eyes focused on him again.

“So who’s the pretty boy?”

Pretty boy?

Steve narrowed his eyes because who was the guy calling a pretty boy?

Indignation rose within him but he didn’t get to lash out because Danny answered the question, breaking Steve’s train of thought.

“That’s Steve, my partner.”

##Continued HERE##

Steve blinked because Danny had sounded very sure. That’s exactly how he would’ve sounded months ago before he had left, before the betrayal and he had to blink a few times because apparently Danny still considered him to be his partner.

That took the wind out of his sails; it left him floundering and was that why there was a sneaky ray of warmth spreading all over his insides?

The other man snorted before nodding, “Alright, fill him in then.”

Danny nodded before gesturing for Steve to come closer. Steve didn’t much like leaving the wall behind because just like always Danny kept him off kilter.

While before he had enjoyed being kept off balance, right now it wasn’t the best thing for him because quite frankly anything could send him into a nose dive and he wasn’t ready yet to humiliate himself in front of the man.

If Danny ever found out he would probably read him the riot act but Steve knew that he couldn’t deal with the pity and the sad looks that would follow.

It wouldn’t do for him to show any weakness, it wasn’t who he was. He prided himself on being able to take care of himself, to be the strong one because all his life that was what he had been forced to be.

He had limits now where before he would have been able to keep going and while it might gall him, privately he could acknowledge that.

That didn’t mean though that he had to let the world at large know that Steve McGarrett was no longer a SEAL and therefore useless.

Oh no.

Besides, if he had never pushed at his limits he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere so maybe the doctors had gotten a few things wrong.

Might not be the first time that happened.

So he detached himself from the wall, slowly walking towards his friend with his trademark half smirk in place.

He ignored how for a moment the world shifted around him, the ground no longer as solid and steady as it once had been.

And then, then it was gone and the world had stopped moving.

He was glad though when he was able to lean against the desk while Danny started talking.

“It was a few weeks ago that a case came across our desk back home.”

His smile widened a little bit because Danny might not have noticed it but he had just referred to Hawaii as home.

Internally Steve gave a high five while outwardly he let Danny continue. He had always enjoyed Danny talking but nothing was more of a turn on than when Danny either ranted or got all professional.

Frankly if he had to choose between those two he would be hard pressed to come up with a choice.

“A young man was found in a warehouse, “the blond man continued, “sliced up pretty good and tortured. His throat was cut in the end but from what Max was able to tell us, his death wasn’t a quick one. The sick bastard who did that to him must have had practice because the cuts on his body had been deep but not deadly.”

“So he knew how to inflict pain without killing his victim too soon, “Steve summed it up while Danny nodded, shoving a picture at him.

He took it, looking at it with detachment because that was how he did things. That was how anyone operated who dealt with horrible things on a nearly daily basis because without that sort of detachment, no human being could stay sane.

Steve had learned early on how to compartmentalize and while Danny hadn’t received the same training, cops surely went through something similar.

It didn’t mean that they didn’t care about their victims but keeping calm and detached was the only way any results could be had.

Still, watching the bloodied mess of what once had been a healthy young man was trying and when Steve put the picture down he chewed on his lower lip, feeling the old familiar need to put his fist through a wall.

In armed conflict people always got hurt but at least the soldiers had signed up for it. Or if a bad guy got shot they also had been asking for it. But every time a civilian bit the dust it drove Steve into a rage because that wasn’t supposed to happen.

And now there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

He was useless and that nearly had him whacking his head against the wall and only years of self discipline kept him from leaping into action.

“We got nowhere, “Danny continued, filing the picture away among others. “Despite our best efforts all our leads ended with nothing.”

Steve nodded because yes, sometimes things went that way.

Clearly something must have changed because otherwise they wouldn’t be here now but he let Danny tell things at his own pace.

He knew that interrupting and pushing for answers was only going to delay the process because it would set Danny off, derailing him into a rant and while Steve wouldn’t mind watching the blond hair flail left and right with hands waving, right now wasn’t the time to indulge in his amusement.

“I’ve kept in touch with Hank here, “he pointed at Hastings who was busy looking at files nearby, not sparing them a glance. Obviously he trusted that Danny would be able to fill Steve in on his own.

“He was my partner back in Jersey, “Danny continued, “He left about a month before I did, choosing to transfer because he was sick and tired of snow.”

Steve snorted, sending an approving glance towards the man because at least someone in Danny’s circle of friends had the brains to figure out that no one liked to stay in Jersey unless they absolutely had to.

“Anyway, we’ve started talking a bit more frequently since you left, “and for a moment Danny’s voice faltered before he continued, “and I was ranting about this case without any leads and…”

“And I said, wait a minute, that’s sounds like one of mine, “Hank interrupted, putting his files away and now looking at the both of them.

“We compared notes, exchanged reports and it turned out that it must’ve been the same guy killing these men. Even the type was the same, tall, dark with blue eyes.”

Danny nodded, “Then Chin started looking around, doing something amazing with the computer and the internet and he found us a few more cases in different cities all across the mainland.”

Mainland. There it was again. Danny casually referring to what before had been home as the mainland like anyone who considered Hawaii to be his home would.

Where there other changes that had happened while he had been gone?

That nearly caused him to smack his head against the wall again because of course there had been changes. Life had moved on regardless if he was there or not.

And it had only been a matter of time before Danny started accepting the fact hat while he might not have been born in Hawaii; it wasn’t as bad as he always made it out to be.

With Danny a lot of things were just ranting and raving, complaining because the man liked to talk and had a temper that rivaled an active volcano but Steve had always known that deep down Danny wasn’t actually as unhappy as he always claimed to be.

Clearly his absence hadn’t made the guy sad and while that was both good to know and annoying, Steve could be anything but happy about it.

Him leaving had never been about punishing Danny and always about him and his issues.

And yes, he was aware that he had trust issues, thank you very much. It had been pointed out to him often enough and he wasn’t in the habit of being in denial for long.

Even if some people liked to think differently.

“So we’ve got a serial killer on the loose who likes to cut up the same type of man over and over again?”

“Looks like it, “Danny confirmed.

“Why isn’t the FBI all over this?”

Now both Danny and Hastings looked sheepish before Hastings replied, “Because we haven’t gotten real evidence and if we called it in, the case would be taken away and you know how the FBI works. It wouldn’t be a priority for them.”

“And it is for you?”

Steve was looking at Danny but it was Hastings who answered. “The guy they killed in Miami was a friend of mine.”

“Oh, “ Steve formed the words, nodding because yes, that would explain why Hastings was going above and beyond to get this guy and why Danny was here.

After all, Danny worked in Hawaii and he had no business officially working in Florida.

“So this is off the books?” Steve asked, looking from Danny to Hastings and both men shifted a little bit.

“Sort of, “Danny replied. “Chin and Kono are aware and helping us as much as they can from their end.”

“Chin is a whiz when it comes to the computer and Kono is chasing down leads in Hawaii as best as she can, “Hastings continued for Danny.

“And my boss is aware what is going on and he has sanctioned it but we’ve got a problem with someone on your team being on the take and we don’t know who it is.”

“So Hank here is flying under the radar to avoid anything getting leaked to press or maybe even getting back to our main suspect.”

“The last thing we need is for some over excited reporter to print an article about a serial killer and end our chances of getting this guy.”

“So you think he is in Miami?” Steve asked and both men nodded, “You met him downstairs. He’s our prime suspect.”

Steve blinked; he had suspected something was up when Danny had latched onto him like that and there had been something off about the guy but a serial killer?

Well, they didn’t come with a label, Steve knew that evil could be hiding under the prettiest of packages but still, how had they gotten from no clues to a suspect?

When he asked that out loud, Danny snorted, “Chin mostly, “he said, “Once we found those articles, Chin wrote a program of sorts that compared the names on the flights in and out of Hawaii to those around the times of the murders in the other cities and in the end we ended up with 3 names.”

“But only 1 was in all the cities and matched our profile.” Hastings added.

“Let me guess, “Steve said with a little bit of wry humor, “Single, male, mid thirties to early forties?”

“Yes, sort of, “ Danny admitted, “and it helped that one of the three suspects was a woman and one an older man.”

“Women can be serial killers too, “Steve pointed out because it was never good to eliminate someone on preconceptions. It might be rare for women to be serial killers but it wasn’t as if it wasn’t possible.

“I asked Max, had him check her out but from the injuries angle and her height, he says that it couldn’t have been her doing it.”

“Still, “Steve objected, “she could’ve had an accomplice.”

“We looked into that, “Hastings admitted, “and there were two murders where she had an alibi that we couldn’t break. Nothing else implicated her so we moved on to this guy.”

Steve looked down at the picture that Danny had shoved towards him. It was the guy he had just met downstairs.

“What do we know about him?” he asked and Danny answered, “Not much. He has a trust fund but he has investments in nearly everything you can think of. He’s smart and filthy rich.”

“Boyfriend?” Steve asked because there had to be a reason this guy went nuts on the same type of men all over again and a jilted lover sounded like a safe bet.

“Nothing we could find but he is definitely gay since he is openly participating in many gay right events.”

“A serial killer with a conscience then,” Steve pointed out and now both men shrugged.

“We don’t have enough to get a judge to sign a search warrant, “Hastings continued, “And besides, that might get us on someone’s radar.”

“So, “Danny continued, “the plan was for me and dipshit to get to know him. Dipshit was supposed to be his type and…”

“Dipshit?” Steve asked, the amusement evident his voice while Danny glared at him.

“Until he learns that being a cop has got nothing to do with his issues, he’s a dipshit.”

“Alright, “Steve snorted because he actually agreed with Danny on that.

He could understand why pretending to be a couple might offend a straight guy’s sensibilities but a good cop would look past that and still get the perp.

Clearly dipshit wasn’t cut out to be that kind of cop.

“So…”Steve started but Danny startled him by stepping into his space, “I need a partner for this and I don’t know if you’re noticed but you kind of fit the profile?”

“Huh?” Steve didn’t follow which caused Danny to snort, shaking his head.

“Tall, dark and blue eyed?”

“Oh, “Steve admitted because he hadn’t connected those dots.

“Steve, “Danny poked his chest, “Will you help us nail this guy?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

##

“Let’s go to my room, “Danny declared some time later and honestly Steve was glad for it because his head was staring to swim and quite frankly, the hammer constantly knocking against his skull had moved on from being irritating to downright hostile.

Stupid hammer…

By the time Danny inserted the key into the slot of his room, Steve was ready to curl up somewhere, preferably underneath a pillow.

But with narrowed eyes and a ramrod straight back, he fought really hard for no signs to show because it simply wouldn’t due to show his weakness.

He would overcome this because he had to. There was no other choice.

Even when he had been on the reserves before he had always considered himself to be a SEAL. It was simply who he was like an extension of himself.

Kind of like his hair was dark and he had blue eyes. It was a fact.

But now that the fact had changed, his entire world view had gotten turned on its head.

He had never honestly thought about leaving for good, going back had always been an option, at least in his mind, but now that was gone for good.

Sure, they had offered him other options, for someone with his skill set there was always something to do but it would’ve been like rubbing salt into a wound that would never close.

He honestly preferred to make a clean break of it and even though that had been unavoidable, it didn’t mean that he wanted it broadcasted for everyone to know.

Steve blinked once he took in the opulent room.

The cover for Danny had been extensive and of course Chin had helped setting it up. Apparently his skills weren’t only reserved to Hawaii, which should’ve been obvious in retrospect.

Danny Williams was now someone with a cushy bank account who didn’t do much but travel the world and buy up art and who would later on would sell it.

It would never hold up to close scrutiny but it wasn’t supposed to.

His boyfriend was supposed to be an artist, easy on the eyes and easy going in nature and quite frankly from what Steve had seen of dipshit, to use Danny’s nickname for the cop, he couldn’t see how the guy could’ve pulled it off.

He might have been easy on the eyes, not Steve’s type but he hadn’t been ugly, but easy going? The guy had practically radiated tension from the moment Steve had laid eyes on him and he doubted that he would’ve been able to fake it well enough. Some people weren’t just meant to relax, it wasn’t in their nature.

With a snort Steve wondered how he could pull it off but he had spent many hours surfing and lying on the beach and while that wasn’t him anymore he was pretty sure he could fake it.

Besides, he wasn’t the one who had claimed that he was high maintenance.

“I know, “Danny said quickly, “the room is a bit over the top but we had to go for it otherwise the cover wouldn’t work.”

Steve nodded because it made sense.

There was a living room with a flat screen TV and a dining area and he figure the one door leading into another room would be the bedroom.

“I guess I’ll take the sofa then, “he said, eying the sofa in question and cringing internally because while it looked expensive enough it still wasn’t a bed.

For a guy that was used to sleeping in the rough with next to nothing it was practically pathetic to have to admit that he probably shouldn’t sleep on a sofa due to his back.

“Don’t be stupid, “Danny huffed, “The bed is big enough for the both of us.”

Steve opened his mouth to object but then he closed it with an audible click.

Sharing a bed with Danny would be heaven and torture at the same time but it would be a bed and definitely better than the sofa.

Danny rubbed his chin, “I guess we should talk but why don’t you order some food while I head back down?”

Steve frowned and Danny continued, “I promised Chin to check in and it’s better with the video set up downstairs…”

Steve nodded, thankfully Danny wasn’t asking him to join him because he felt as if he had been run over by truck already and he wasn’t really ready to face Chin.

“Why don’t you have a shower while I’m gone?” Danny said in parting and Steve couldn’t help it, he sniffed underneath his arm pits to make sure that Danny was just being polite.

##Continued HERE##

Steve was always very quick in the shower unless he had a reason to linger.

Once he was done he quickly towelled his hair as much as he could, patting down on some errant strands that were trying to stand up to attention before slinging a towel around his lean hips.

The bathroom led out into the bedroom where his duffle bag was currently sitting on the bed.

He ruffled through it, popped a few pills and then stuffed them as far down as they would go.

He didn’t want anyone accidentally finding them, especially Danny who had an alarming tendency to become like a dog with a bone when he wanted answers.

That was a very good trait in a detective but not so much in a friend when Steve wanted to keep a few things to himself.

He barely hard the knock on the door but what he did hear was the call, “Room service.”

His stomach grumbled in response and he quickly exited the bedroom, crossed the living room and pulled the door open.

He hadn’t bothered with putting any clothes on, figuring that the hotel staff surely had seen people attired in towels before and that they were used to it.

He blinked, noticing that instead of the hotel waiter, the serial killer suspect was standing outside, smiling widely at him.

Maybe it was a sign just how much he was off his game that he hadn’t bother to double check who was actually outside the door but now it was too late to berate himself for it.

He had always mistrusted people who smiled like there was no tomorrow because in Steve’s opinion no one could be that cheerful unless they were hiding something.

“I guess you’re hungry, “Harold observed, “You ordered for two.”

Was the guy stupid?

Danny was supposed to be his boyfriend so why was he giving him lip that there was food for two?

Steve took a deep breath and then he stepped aside, letting a suspected murderer into the room.

It might seem crazy but despite his disabilities, Steve was still highly trained and more than able to defend himself.

And if they were to catch this guy it might be a good thing if he fixated on him instead of on a civilian.

Steve after all would be able to handle himself.

“You moonlighting as a waiter?” he asked, trying to smile casually without giving away that he was on alert and ready to strike should the man try something funny.

Instead Harold wheeled the tray into the centre of the room before he let go.

“I wanted to drop this off, “he held out an envelope and when Steve reached for it, he put it on the tray.

Steve bit his lower lip because the man was playing a game of sorts and he didn’t like it.

He watched as his narrowed cold blue eyes slowly trailed up and down Steve’s body, mapping every inch of him as if he had any right to do just that.

For the first time in a long while Steve actually felt self conscious and he had to work really hard to stop himself from fidgeting.

He wasn’t going to give this creep the satisfaction.

There was no proof yet that this man was the killer they were looking for but regardless if he was guilty or not, he was still a creepy man.

“I’ll let Danny know, “Steve finally said, stepping aside in a clear indication that Harold was allowed to leave now at any moment.

The man had the audacity to chuckle before nodding, “You do that…”

Steve watched the man take a few steps and then he walked towards the tray, picking up the envelope.

He knew that Harold had changed his course and was walking towards him, long before the man came to stand behind him, grabbing both of his upper arms.

He tensed, his body went still but that was mostly for show.

He was supposed to be the harmless boyfriend, luring the guy into a trap so he had ignored what his senses had told him and had allowed Harold to get closer than he was comfortable with.

Still, it wasn’t as if Harold was actually in control.

Steve was able to recite at least ten moves in his head how he could easily dislodge the man and render him helpless.

Right now one scenario where he lay bleeding on the ground with a broken nose was Steve’s favourite but he had promised Danny to help and teaching the guy a lesson wasn’t helping.

The man’s thumbs traced tiny circles on Steve’s bare arms and he could smell the man’s aftershave.

He was now so close that Harold’s front was pressed to Steve’s back, a position that no stranger in his right mind should attempt with someone he had just met.

Steve filed that away as yet another reason why the guy needed to be taught a lesson but he didn’t react on any of his urges.

Don’t maim the guy.

Don’t maim the guy.

The mantra kept buzzing around in his head because it was extremely hard to go against his instincts.

This was like a frightened animal playing dead and Steve was more the leap into action and do something kind of guy.

A shiver ran over his body and it had nothing to do with excitement and more with barely contained fury that this guy was actually getting off on this.

And from the slowly rising tent in the man’s trousers, clearly felt by Steve, the man was clearly enjoying himself.

“You could do better than Danny, “Harold whispered, his hot breath ghosting over Steve’s exposed neck.

Steve closed his eyes, his body tensing further because it took all his will power not to yank his head backwards, knocking the guy on his ass.

He deserved a medal for this, he surely did!

One hand let go of Steve’s arm, slowly trailing over his lower stomach towards where the towel was slung around his hips and Steve was just about to reach out and snap the guy’s wrist (because enough was enough) when Danny’s voice, low and growly, cut through the silence in the room.

“Get your hands off of him.”

Harold slowly let go, making it clear that he wasn’t obeying Danny’s order but merely humoring him and that alone put him high on the list of people to be dangled off a roof or thrown into a shark tank.

“No hard feelings, “the creep smiled, sending a leer towards Steve, making a show of adjusting his trousers before walking towards the exit.

“Steve, “the man called out to him, “Make sure you tell your boyfriend that I left a letter for him.”

Danny bristled, his fingers clenching and unclenching and with a shrug, Steve picked up the letter, handing it over to Danny.

“What’s wrong with you?” Danny exploded, waving his hands.

He snatched the letter out of Steve’s hand and dropped it carelessly onto the floor.

“I leave you alone for a minute and you play hook up with a suspected serial killer?”

Steve blinked before his eyes narrowed. He folded his hands over his chest, ignoring how the room tilted around him.

Now wasn’t the time for a dizzy spell, it could wait.

He was still in charge of his body and skull fracture or not, that wasn’t going to change.

“You let the guy paw you!”

Steve’s blue eyes narrowed even further.

“I thought that’s what you wanted me to do?”

“Excuse me?” Danny’s voice rose another notch, “When did I say that you’re supposed to whore yourself out?”

“Fuck you, “was Steve’s reply, his eyes were narrowed and shining with both fury and hurt. He turned around, strutting back into the bedroom and practically yanking on his sweats.

The towel dropped to the floor just as he was pulling the fabric over his ass and when he turned around, swaying slightly because he had moved too quickly he found Danny staring at him.

“I’m sorry, “Danny said quietly but the heated look on his face was still there.

Steve tilted his head slightly before he shrugged, “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, “Danny practically shouted that word, closing the distance between them in rapid steps before coming to stop right before Steve.

What was it with people always stepping into his personal space?

He didn’t mind Danny though but the principle still stood.

“That’s what got us into this mess, “Danny’s voice was quiet and Steve found himself drawn to those blue eyes, “My mouth running away from me, that’s what chased you away.”

“That’s not it, “Steve objected because he had never minded Danny hurling stuff at him it had been the lack of trust that had gotten them to where they were now.

“Oh shut up, “Danny was smiling now, “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not the only one who likes to argue.”

Steve’s brow furrowed and his mouth opened up to object but instead of words he got Danny’s lips on his own.

The kiss wasn’t passionate even though he could feel the need shimmering underneath the surface.

Danny nipped on his bottom lip, coaxing Steve to open up and when he was just about to do that, the man pulled away.

Steve blinked, shaking his head.

“Let’s eat…”Danny declared, turning his back to him and walking out the bedroom.

How the man could be thinking about food right now was beyond Steve.

##

He pushed his steak around, forcing himself to take a few bites but frankly he wasn’t all that hungry.

Ever since waking up his appetite hadn’t been what it once was and nowadays he more or less forced himself to eat because he knew that he needed it.

He had lost some weight but thankfully not too much muscle mass because if he had to start from scratch with his training then he would probably never get anywhere.

He sighed, moving his current slice from the left hand side of the plate to the right.

“Is it not good?” Danny asked him in between chews causing Steve to shrug.

“Just not hungry I guess,” he answered which got him a frown.

“What brings you to Miami then?” Danny asked instead and this wasn’t something that Steve wanted to talk about either but it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen it coming.

“I resigned, “he said and that got him a cough from Danny.

He patted the man on his back, worried for a brief second that he might choke on his burger but eventually Danny recovered.

“Ninja SEAL resigned?”

Steve sighed, rubbing his forehead while he shoved the piece of steak back to where it had been initially.

Playing with food wasn’t something that his mother had tolerated but it wasn’t as if she was around to scold him for it, now was she?

“It was time, “he said cryptically and from the way Danny’s mouth opened and closed he could tell that there were more questions on the man’s mind but for once he seemed to respect that Steve didn’t want to talk about it.

“So were you heading home then?” he asked in a tense voice while Steve shrugged.

“You weren’t coming back?” Danny’s voice was rising again, causing Steve to roll his eyes.

“Don’t put words into my mouth, “he snapped back. “I had gotten to the hotel maybe a half an hour before you picked me up. I hadn’t even managed to book a room yet. Frankly I have no clue what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Come on, “Danny needled, “Surely you know if you would’ve come back or not.”

Frankly Steve wasn’t so sure but Danny did have a point. He might not have seriously thought about what he would do now that he was without a job or any goal in his life so it was reasonable to assume that his path might have taken him back to Hawaii.

“I guess so,” he said, finally popping the piece of meat into his mouth, chewing slowly. “I’d like to think that I would’ve come back but honestly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

That got another look from Danny that Steve just ignored.

He had had more pressing issues on his mind like re-learning how to get up and walking in a straight line that didn’t end with him vomiting his guts out so apart from getting his ass out of the hospital nothing much else had been on his mind.

“Fine, “Danny grumbled, back to munching the rest of his burger.

Steve hummed, pushing the plate away. He hadn’t eaten more than a quarter of it but it he took another bite it might all come back up again and that would be counter productive.

He put the plate onto the floor before crawling up to the pillow.

Why they had taken their plates to the bed instead of eating on a perfectly good table out in the living room was beyond him but that was what had happened.

Now though he was glad because with one more roll, yanking at the covers and he was lying comfortably on his side.

Not too long later he felt the bed dip further and then Danny was sliding in beside him.

##

He was caught in a furnace. His skin surely was going to peel off at any moment and if it got any hotter he was going to melt.

Steve groaned, shifting but instead of being able to get away he felt something holding on tight to him.

He dared to open one eye followed by the next one a few seconds later to find Danny neatly draped all over him.

The blond head was wedged somewhere underneath his nose and it was a miracle that Danny’s scary hair wasn’t tickling his nose.

He was half lying on top of Steve who was on his back with one of his legs wedged in between Steve’s own.

His hand was flung over his torso, gripping Steve tightly and not giving him an inch to move.

It shouldn’t be comfortable or endearing but it still was. Now that he knew that he wasn’t in any danger of melting it wasn’t actually so bad to wake up with Danny cuddled against him.

Or lying on top of him…

Either way, it wasn’t bad.

Danny shuffled before his blue eyes slowly fluttered open, “Morning,” he mumbled before he rolled off Steve as if it was totally normal for him to wake up like that.

Steve shook his head, a half smirk on his face.

Danny went over to his own small suitcase, dragging out a few clothes.

Steve watched as he hid away his body while he chose to stay in bed.

“I’ll go and get you some clothes, “Danny grumbled, clearly not quite awake.

Steve frowned, “I can dress myself, thank you very much.”

“That’s not…”Danny huffed, straightening up while he turned around, buttoning up his shirt.

“I’m supposed to be rich and you’re my poor boyfriend.”

Steve raised an eyebrow as if to convey that he was familiar with the plan.

Danny rolled his eyes, “I don’t need to go through your things to know that all you have in there…, “he twisted his head to points towards Steve’s duffle, missing entirely how Steve tensed up when Danny said that he didn’t need to go through his stuff.

His pills were in there and he didn’t want Danny to find them. Hell, he didn’t want any one to find them.

Danny continued, oblivious to the tension in Steve’s body, “I know that all you have in there is cargo pants in various colors followed by shirts and socks.

“And don’t forget my gun and my knife.”

Danny rolled his eyes, “Anyway, “he continued, “the point is that I’ve got more class than you and since you’re my boyfriend I am kind of expected to dress you up.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Steve…”

“No, “he was standing firm on this, swinging his long legs over the edge of the bed. “I’ll need room to store my knife and I can’t do that in anything without pockets.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Deadly, “Steve’s blue eyes narrowed. “I’m bait for a serial killer or have you forgotten that?”

Danny spluttered but Steve ignored him, “I’m going to be armed, and that’s that.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you, “Danny reassured him, “I’m going to look out for you. Trust me.”

Steve took a deep breath because no, he wasn’t going to rehash that. But regardless of it all he wasn’t going to be bait without being armed.

He folded his arms in front of his chest; his steely eyes trained on Danny until he watched the man’s shoulders sag.

“Fine, I’ll wear the tie for both of us. It’ll be like old times.”

##

Danny left to meet up with Hastings but Steve had declined to come along.

He wasn’t really a member of their team and while he was a part of this operation, he was bait after all; he wanted to take some time to clean his gun and sharpen his knife.

He might need it.

So he spent the rest of the morning in silence, stroking his knife and playing with his gun and that sort of innuendo was totally accidental.

It felt as if they had never parted; Danny had slotted right back into his life as if they had never been apart and while their camaraderie had always been an easy one, he hadn’t expected that.

Truthfully he had always wanted them to be more and before their fall out he had been convinced that Danny wanted that too and frankly with how things were shaping up so far he was pretty certain that Danny was still interested.

But interest on either one of their parts had never been the problem.

Danny was still a hot head; he was liable to react first before thinking things through and while for now he might be a bit more cautious around Steve, did he really want the man to censor himself?

That wasn’t what he wanted.

But was he ready to trust Danny again? Did time really heal all wounds?

Did they just magically go away?

It did make a difference that this time around he wasn’t going to be Danny’s boss.

And when it came to this operation he did trust Danny to have his back. He wasn’t going to abandon him or leave him to the wolves because that wasn’t the kind of man he was.

Steve’s burrow furrowed because he had left because he didn’t trust Danny and yet now it wasn’t even a question.

Then again, this was one case. He still felt reluctant to expect Danny not to walk away from him again in the future.

But it did feel good to know that maybe all wasn’t lost.

He would give this a try, let things happen in their own time because frankly right now time was all he had.

##Continued HERE##

“What was in the envelope,” Steve asked out of the blue when they were heading up to the penthouse.

“Hm?” Danny blinked before the dots connected, “Oh, the one that grabby hands dropped off?”

Steve snorted at the nickname.

“Just the formal invitation. I got it here, “he patted his back pocket to show that he was carrying it.

There was a guard or bouncer standing at the exit because apparently the entire top floor was one big suite. And of course Harold had rented only the best.

The guy, who looked impressive, he was that big, checked Danny’s invitation and it rattled Steve that he didn’t even give him a second glance.

Dismissing him as if he was no threat or of no consequence at all. Frankly he had never been all that intimidating looking, body-wise at least, because he had always been tall and on the lean side but he wasn’t used to being totally ignored either.

He had been trained to be deadly; hell, most of his formative years had been spent in the military and that had left a mark.

And yes, somewhere deep down he knew that apart from being pale, no one could tell that he had been physically unfit to remain a SEAL. That was all in his head; imagining that he had a big neon sign flashing over his head, broadcasting his inadequacies to the entire world.

He straightened up; well, he was still the same person he had been before. He would show them!

Never mind that he didn’t have to prove anything but this was simply who he was.

He was impressed how flawlessly Danny navigated the room, greeting people he probably didn’t know and acting as if he owned the place.

Then again having low self esteem wasn’t something Danny had ever suffered from.

Steve trailed along, politely with a somewhat fake smile plastered to his face. There was a reason why he preferred ops where he could actually shoot people to infiltrating the enemy.

He was way better when it came to action than at gathering information unless it involved beating it out of someone.

Did that make him a violent person?

Danny patted his hand, snaking their fingers together and for a few seconds Steve was startled before he squeezed back.

There was a buffet where everyone could serve themselves and a few tables neatly arranged for everyone to sit down.

When he saw that Danny was pushing his olives around his plate he quickly speared one onto his fork.

When the man didn’t notice, avidly talking to the older lady sitting beside him, he went for the next one.

Clearly Danny wasn’t eating them because he had nearly cleaned his plate already and the pile of olives was still left.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Danny whirled around to him, using his own fork to immobilize Steve’s.

Steve growled and moved to attack by using his knife to dislodge the assailing fork. Danny narrowed his eyes and then honest to god they started trying to spear the remaining olives

When apparently the olive in question had enough, it bounced off of the plate, sailing over the table and landed in a woman’s lap.

“Uhm…”Steve hedged, quickly pulling his fork back and plastering an innocent expression onto his face. It didn’t work of course because they had provided quite a spectacle and watching grown men playing with the food wasn’t something that could’ve gone unnoticed.

“What are you?” Danny took the offensive, “Five?”

Steve only raised an eyebrow, placing the fork neatly onto the table.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You don’t…”Danny was breathing hard, working himself up into a rant and Steve was looking forward to it.

He had missed this; Danny’s smile and his ability to go off on the simplest of things and watching him flail about was not only amusing but also quite endearing.

Trust issues aside, he had always enjoyed that side of his partner.

“You tried to steal my olives!” Danny exclaimed.

“You weren’t eating them, “Steve pointed out logically watching Danny sputter.

“That’s not the point, “the man raised his fork, making poking gestures at Steve as if he wanted to use it to poke some sense into him.

Steve snorted.

“Is this like your irrational fear of water?” Steve inquired, “Or your misguided belief that pineapples shouldn’t go on pizza?”

He honestly wanted to know. If Danny had at least tried the pineapples on the pizza and then not liked them that would’ve been fine because it might not be for everyone but instead he had categorically refused to even try it!

Simply because he had this misguided belief that fruit didn’t belong on pizza!

And Danny knew how to swim; he had seen him once but for some reason he considered sand and ocean to be akin to the devil, which was just downright bizarre.

Anyone coming to Hawaii considered it to be paradise and while Steve knew that despite the beautiful landscape his home did have problems just like any other place, there was no way that anyone could get away with claiming that it wasn’t a nice place to be.

At least most certainly compared to New Jersey!

Danny spluttered again, his fork was waving dangerously.

“Fruit has no business being on a pizza, “he said forcefully, “And I know what you consider as swimming. You like putting people into shark tanks and drowning yourself in waves the size of houses…”

“That was once, “Steve said with indignation, “and he was asking for it. And it wasn’t as if I left him out there on his own. I did come back to pick him up, didn’t I?”

Seriously, Danny needed to get his priorities right.

“How long have you been married again?”

The woman right next to Danny inquired and Steve had to blink.

That wasn’t the first time someone had asked him that and he never quite understood why people assumed that Danny and he were in a relationship.

There was a time when he had actually wanted that, taking some comfort in the fact that if people saw the affection between them then there was a chance that Danny would wake up one day and smell the roses but that was a long time ago.

He swallowed hard, looking down onto his plate and missed Danny’s reply.

He still wanted Danny; that had never changed. And now more than ever he had the impression that Danny might be on the same page. Or was this all an act?

The guy had always been affectionate, in Steve’s space so that wasn’t really anything new.

And sharing a bed and waking up tangled together wasn’t that unusual either. They were comfortable around each other and Steve had never minded when his partners used him as a pillow.

He might not appear to be the hugging type but he had never protested either.

But from their first chance meeting in the bar yesterday Danny had pretended to be his boyfriend so how did Steve know that the glances Danny was sending towards him now wasn’t simply acting?

He didn’t doubt the affection there. That they were friends had never been the issue. Steve’s inability to trust once that trust had been broken, that was what had sent him packing his bags.

But he had always known that Danny cared for him and he was sure that Danny had always known that the feeling was mutual.

But was it more?

A kiss wasn’t really proof of anything either even if it had left him breathless.

Was it just him wanting more and reading things into it or was Danny actively flirting with him.

Steve resisted the urge to face plant onto the table because it wouldn’t help him and it would make him look like an idiot. It would feel good though, he was certain of that.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead. Maybe he should focus on helping Danny solve the case and anything else could wait until then.

If anything at all then right now he had time. He had no where to be, he had no job and no commitments so he might just as well head back to Hawaii after this was done and see if things between him and Danny could be repaired.

And frankly since he wasn’t going to have to trust Danny to be his partner, he might be able to learn to completely trust the man again.

Baby steps that was what was required. And he was sure that if he hadn’t left, he wouldn’t even have been able to do that.

That he did things in absolutes might be a character flaw but he couldn’t change who he was. Much like Danny couldn’t change the fact that he was a hot head.

But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t learn to grow.

He chewed on his lower lip. Yes, he would give this a chance.

##

This was one of the most boring parties Steve had ever been too and having a fake, pleasant look plastered to his face was actually staring to hurt.

And it didn’t help that he could practically feel Harold’s stare following him around as if he was a particularly interesting specimen that he wanted to dissect. And maybe that analogy was actually spot on because if the creep was the serial killer they were looking for then he was probably imagining cutting Steve up right now.

And instead of frightening him what would probably be a rational response, Steve’s heart sped up and he got excited.

Not because he liked getting injured but because of the danger and the excitement. So what if he liked some sort of adventure? There was nothing wrong with that!

He was just going for an apple when Danny suddenly twisted him around, crowding into his space.

“What?” Steve asked, a puzzled look on his face.

“Just go with it…”the blond man mouthed and because Steve’s body was oddly happy he found himself nodding without actually knowing what he was agreeing to.

The smile on Danny’s face could’ve rivalled the sun and Steve managed to smile back.

He rested his hands on the table behind him, allowing Danny to push even closer and wedging a leg in between Steve’s.

He spread his legs to accommodate the smaller man and he made a slightly startled sound in the back of his throat when Danny used both hands to frame his face, pulling him downwards and into a heated kiss.

He opened up, embracing Danny’s hot mouth on his and the little groan that escaped his throat got swallowed up whole.

His dick twitched, liking where this was going and since Steve had never had a problem with doing this in public he felt bereft once Danny pulled back.

His eyes were narrowed and he was panting but what was nearly his undoing was the lust blown eyes on Danny’s face, lids barely open and the way the man licked his lips, tasting Steve on his own.

He swallowed hard; his brain started working again and yes, this so wasn’t the time and place.

“So I guess getting it up isn’t a problem for you two?” the smirk on Harold’s face as he patted Danny on the shoulder in a congratulating manner was nearly enough to have Steve launch himself at him and try making a missile out of him.

The window behind him didn’t look too sturdy and if he pushed really hard he surely could get him to dangle a little bit. Maybe being upside down would shake the crazy and the creepy right out of the man!

But instead of reacting he simply dug his fingers into the tablecloth, standing absolutely still. This was Danny’s case and he was simply tagging along as the bait.

He didn’t have to interact with the creep, he just had to be there and yes, to look pretty.

He chewed on his lower lip because he would’ve never thought that this was what it came down to but he wasn’t above using what he got.

And he might not spend hours thinking about his looks but he had seen his reflection in a mirror once or twice and he knew that he wasn’t ugly to look at.

And in his own way Danny was handsome too. If the creep didn’t tend towards dark and blue eyed then Danny would’ve been the prefect bait!

Steve shook his head, deciding to stop this train of thought.

“You tired, babe?” Danny asked and Steve shrugged, “I could go for a nap, “he said, taking Danny’s cue to leave for what it was.

It was only past two and surely Harold would think that talking about napping was code for sex but honestly, who cared?

“It was nice meeting you, “Danny nodded at the man, “Thanks for the invitation, “and then he grabbed Steve’s hand, dragging him away from the leering older man.

“I don’t need you to look out for my virtue, “Steve grumbled quietly while Danny led him through the people toward the elevator.

“You need someone to look out for you, “Danny whispered back, “Because everyone time you run around unsupervised, stuff happens.”

Steve snorted in indignation, “I don’t go looking for trouble!” his blue eyes narrowed and there was a spark of anger rising within that he didn’t want to indulge right now.

“Right, “Danny drawled but thankfully the man knew when danger was looming on the horizon because he didn’t say any more than that.

Steve yanked his hand out of Danny’s grip and stood ramrod straight on their way to their own level.

Danny sighed, “Look, don’t be like that.”

“Be like what?” Steve shot back, getting annoyed again because now Danny was insinuating that he was pissed off.

Danny sighed again, opening the door to their room.

The phone on the table was blinking and Danny went to retrieve the message. When he was done he turned around, “That was reception, “he said, “Apparently there’s a message waiting for me downstairs.”

Steve nodded, heading towards the bedroom.

He could practically see Danny roll his eyes before he heard the door click close after him.

He carefully bent down to avoid toppling over and retrieved his pills from the duffle bag.

He hated being dependant on chemicals but for now it was the way to go.

The doctor had promised him that it would get better and even though he had discharged himself early he had every intention of seeking advice once he got back home.

He quickly took them with some bottled water and then he stuffed them back down to the bottom of the bag.

It wouldn’t do if Danny were to accidentally stumble over them. The man might be loud and annoying at times but he was a mighty good detective and that had something to do with the fact that once his interest was roused he was like a dog with a bone. He wouldn’t be able to let go until all his questions were answered.

There was a knock on the door and Steve had to snort.

“Did you lose your key?” he shouted while heading towards the door.

He was only startled for a second when he opened the door, getting a glimpse of Harold’s happy face before he felt a sting at his neck and then there was only darkness.

##Continued HERE##

Steve had experienced this more than once so when the world slowly started to reassert itself, his senses immediately went on high alert.

It was almost like a computer being powered down wrongly. When booting up again it would give an error message before resuming to work properly and Steve was trained to snap to attention in a situation like this.

It was as if his brain remembered that he hadn’t fallen asleep and the moment some slither of consciousness sparked inside him, it ignited the rest by sending out alarm flares.

Kind of like the annoying sound that marked red alert on the classic Star Trek TV series which he clearly remembered watching. That sound had always made him twitch because it was so annoying.

Sadly a side effect of being drugged was that his brain might be on high alert but his body wasn’t ready yet to respond properly.

And this might be something to be thankful for his injuries after all because over the last few weeks had learned how to stand while the world had developed a spin of its own.

Maybe it was because of that or maybe it was because he was stubborn bastard who simply didn’t now how to stay down, either way when he was no longer dragged across the floor, he was rolling swiftly onto his feet, taking in his surrounding area with a speed that any surveillance tech would’ve been proud of.

His vision narrowed down to the important information like how many unfriendlies were around, was there any weapon nearby and general area information.

His knife was strapped low in his trousers and he would lose precious time trying to retrieve it. He wasn’t all that steady to begin with so bending forward was discharged almost immediately.

He had taken off his gun when he had been in the bedroom so for now he was going to have to put his arms to good use.

He balanced lightly on his feet, fighting not to have the room tilt on him because while his vertigo had gotten better, getting drugged and dragged around had messed up his internal system all over again.

Now though wasn’t the time for that and since he wasn’t the type of guy who waited for action, he didn’t wait for Harold to react to him actually being awake and active.

Instead the moment he felt stable enough to move, he launched himself at the guy, knocking him backwards.

There was a startled yell and if Steve hadn’t been already injured the man would have never gotten the upper hand but apparently when Harold had landed on his ass he had landed on a loose board because when he came back up he came back swinging it, hitting Steve in the side and causing him to tumble sideways.

It was his bad luck that the momentum sent him sprawling onto the floor; his head hit a wooden box on the way down.

Pain exploded in his skull, echoing outwards like a big wave making smaller ones the further it went.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block it out so that he could get back onto his feet but even for someone with his pain threshold there were times when enough was enough.

He was barely conscious when he felt the earth move again and even though he valiantly tried to shove the man dragging him along, all that got him was yet another hit to the head and maybe a few punches to his torso.

Something cold and metal was firmly wrapped around both of his wrists and even though he fought it, panic was slowly spreading through him and then the darkness claimed him again.

##

He had no idea how long he drifted in and out. He could hear water dripping nearby, sounds that made no sense at all scraping over the floor and the occasional flare of pain that felt oddly like someone was cutting into his flesh.

He couldn’t distinguish if he was drugged or if the blow to his head had been worse than he thought.

His doctor had warned him that he should avoid getting hit in the head again because one skull fracture was enough.

He had been lucky to survive the explosion that had knocked him out, he had been told that over and over again and maybe he had now gotten hit one time too many.

Or maybe he had gotten injected with more drugs, either way, he wasn’t really there.

There was a soft caress of his face that had him twitching and when the fingers came close to his mouth he snapped it shut.

A loud scream and a taste of blood told him that he had hit his mark and even though he was rewarded with yet another hit to the head, he couldn’t stop the slow, satisfied smirk spreading over his face.

##

“Steve!”

Danny’s voice filtered through the haze that was currently his mind and it was only that he was somehow programmed to respond to his friend’s voice that he started to actively fight the fog that was trying to keep him under.

He fought the restraints; the metal was cutting his wrists as he moved while at the same time he struggled to come fully awake.

It was a lost cause to some degree because when a blond head and a pale face came into sight, all Steve managed was to blink rapidly and flutter his eyelashes.

Pathetic, that’s what it was.

Hands patted him down and he hissed a few times when tender spots were hit and Danny mumbled something along the lines of so much blood but Steve wasn’t even aware that he was bleeding.

His head hurt. His vision was only barely there but right now every sense he had was zooming in on Danny.

“You need to get out of here,” he whispered, wanting to make sure that Danny was gone before the creep came back.

That caused Danny’s mouth to hang open before a pinched look took over his face. The man mumbled something that only he could understand before he fumbled in his pockets for the tools to open Steve’s shackles.

Where Danny had learned to break locks was a mystery for another time and when the first restraint fell to the ground, Steve sighed in relief.

He would’ve rubbed his wrists if he could’ve mustered the energy to move.

The second restraint gave way and then Steve forced his unresponsive body to move. He couldn’t let Danny do all the work especially since the man was in danger by being there.

Wasn’t rushing into situations without back up his thing?

He scowled, internally ripping Danny a new one for not following his own advice.

Hands reached out to him, grabbing him underneath his shoulders and hauling him up into an upright position.

He squinted, tilting sideways and if he hadn’t been holding onto Danny that’s where he would’ve ended up.

“You alright?”Danny’s worried voice was all the focus he needed and Steve found some last remaining source of strength and somehow found his footing.

“Stupid question, “Danny admonished himself, “Of course you’re not alright.”

Without any further comment Danny let go of him, expecting Steve to follow on his own because now he was holding his gun again that he had holstered before.

Steve swallowed hard but he wasn’t going to give into any weakness so he followed Danny even though he was slower than he would’ve liked.

At least he was conscious and the doctor had obviously exaggerated the fear of landing in a coma permanently…

Fired shots ringing through the empty warehouse brought him out of his thoughts and he was just in time to see Danny lose his gun and fall face first into a ditch.

“Danny!” he screamed, forcing his aching body into a sprint.

What if Danny had fallen to his death?

All he could see was the edge but this place wasn’t all that sturdy to begin with so what if he had broken his neck?

Life without Danny wasn’t something worth living even if they were never going to be more than friends.

Even in the months apart he had always known that Danny was out there and that had been enough.

A figure stepped into his path and because Steve couldn’t quite stop he barrelled into it.

Both men ended up sprawling onto the ground and this time, Steve practically yanked his knife free of its confines.

When he had been chained up he hadn’t been able to reach it and frankly he had barely been conscious most of the times that even doing acrobatics to get to it hadn’t been possible.

But now, falling forward and landing in a sprawl had given him the opportunity and this time, he wasn’t going to lose.

Danny needed him and that was all that mattered.

With a war cry that would’ve sent any sane man running he practically launched himself off of the ground, ignoring how the world tilted around him because all that mattered was to get the knife into the scrambling body before him.

Even with everything in motion around him that shouldn’t be all that hard.

He missed the heart, his aim honestly was off, but he still plunged it deeply into the body and Harold sagged to the ground, going limp.

He wasn’t dead yet so Steve crawled towards the gun and then for good measure he fired a few shots.

That should do it.

He ignored the warmth of satisfaction that spread through him because while it was good that the creep was finally dead and that he would never hurt a civilian again, Danny’s well being was still unaccounted for.

“Danny?” he called out, crawling towards the hole in the ground.

His heart practically stuttered and almost stopped by the time he reached the edge, cautiously peering over it and it took his brain a few seconds to discharge images of seeing Danny’s broken body because he hadn’t actually fallen to his death.

Why there was a hole in the ground he didn’t know but he wasn’t in any mood to criticize the construction of a warehouse that obviously had been abandoned for quite some time.

Maybe the mice had dug it, he thought, snorting at his own stupidity.

“Danny!” he repeated again and this time the bundle of a man that was lying maybe a few feet below him not only moved but also looked up.

Something metallic had fallen, burying his lower body underneath it and it was a sheer miracle that Danny was still alive.

Maybe it wasn’t as heavy as it looked because obviously he still was able to move to be squirming like he was. He actually looked quite frantic and for a few seconds Steve didn’t know why.

This wasn’t good.

He wasn’t thinking rationally; he was losing the ability to keep track of things and wasn’t that a sure sign of a concussion?

He couldn’t afford another concussion. He’d fractured his skull once, suffered eardrum damage because of it and even though he hadn’t felt lucky at the time, eventually he had come to realize that it could’ve gone a hell lot worse.

So getting yet another concussion couldn’t lead to anything good but what was he supposed to do about it?

“Steve!” this time Danny was calling him and Steve actually had to physically shake his head because for a moment he couldn’t recall what he was doing or where he was.

“I can’t get out this thing, “Danny complained and Steve noticed the pale face. His eyes narrowed and then he noticed the steady pool of blood that was accumulating underneath the thing that had landed on top of his friend and that couldn’t be good.

Danny couldn’t stay there.

“Can you call for help?” Steve asked while at the same time he was searching the hole for a good way to descend.

“I lost my phone somewhere, “Danny shouted back and Steve bit his lower lip.

That settled it then. He was going down there.

Moving ground and concussion be dammed, he was going down there and he was going to get Danny to safety.

Once his mind had settled on that, singling out a. single thing to do it all fell into place.

He only gave the ladder a passing glance because there was no way he was stable enough to climb down on it.

But he could jump.

It wasn’t that high up and he knew how to land and roll.

He could do it.

He got up, swaying on his feet but he was starting to learn how to move with the nauseating motion instead of fighting against it so when he jumped over the edge, ignoring Danny’s shouts of protests, it was more a combination of jumping and just tumbling sideways.

Maybe not the most graceful jump he had ever executed but who cared?

His feet connected with the hard floor and his body memory kicked in sending him into a roll. When he got back onto his feet he was stable for a few seconds before he fell sideways but thankfully there was wall that kept him from actually face planting onto the ground.

He then went down on all fours crawling towards Danny who was still struggling to get free.

Steve lent his strength to Danny’s but the thing wasn’t budging.

He worried his lower lip, barely hearing Danny making noises nearby because he was at the stage where there was only place for one train of thought in his head and hearing Danny scream at him wasn’t important right now.

“Right…”he mumbled, crawling back to the wall and yanking a loose pipe free.

He then wedged it underneath the object, pushing with all might and this time it moved.

It seemed to last forever but eventually Danny was free and with a loud umph Steve let go.

His shaky fingers removed his shirt until he was bare-chested and then he wrapped his shirt around the gash on Danny’s leg.

Thankfully it wasn’t the femoral artery that had gotten nicked and the blood flow was already slowing down signaling that the wound was closing.

Still, there had been a lot of blood and Danny was too pale for his own good. He needed a hospital and he needed it now.

He didn’t notice that his hands were shaking while he tried to bandage his friend nor did he notice that Danny’s worried gaze was firmly fixed on him.

“Come on Steve, “Danny’s voice was soothing as if he was talking to a frightened animal, keeping calm in order for it to go along with whatever he said.

A part of Steve registered that Danny was trying to calm him while instinctively he went along with it.

Danny stumbled to his feet, hobbling towards the ladder and with wide eyes Steve realized the flaw in his plan.

He jumped because he couldn’t handle the ladder going down. But the same thing applied for going upwards.

Still, he wasn’t about to show any weakness, he was a SEAL after all and that meant something so he trotted after his friend.

Despite his injuries Danny was already halfway up the ladder by the time Steve managed to set one foot on it and he had barely taken a step when Danny’s ass disappeared from view.

And wasn’t that a shame? Danny’s ass should never be gone from his view!

Steve frowned, his fingers gripping the ladder so tight that he was afraid something might snap.

“Are you planning on taking all day?” Danny’s mocking voice came from above and after sucking in a deep breath; Steve closed his eyes, finding his way in the dark.

Maybe if he kept his eyes shut he wouldn’t see the world tilting around him and then he could make it up the ladder without falling backwards and breaking every bone in his body.

“What are you doing?” Danny of course predictably asked but Steve just ignored him. There was no good comeback for him and since there was no other way out but to climb he was going to do his way and Danny would simply have to put up with him!

Eventually his fingers grabbed nothing but air and Steve carefully opened his eyes again.

Before he could make another move, strong hands reached for him and then Danny was in full view, pulling him up until it almost felt as if he was being lifted up into the air.

“Hey!” Steve protested, he wasn’t some sort of damsel in distress with Danny being his knight in shining amour but nothing changed the fact that he was being pulled away from the ladder and onto solid ground.

With an umph he landed on Danny whose hands came to practically form a vice grip around his hips, holding him close.

Steve closed his eyes again, feeling oddly tired for a moment and he was barely aware that Danny was moving underneath him, gently rolling him to the side.

“I lost my phone, “the blond man grumbled and Steve sighed, because of course it had.

“I don’t think…”Steve thought out loud before he started patting down his trousers but of course his own phone had been removed or maybe he hadn’t even had it on him?

He couldn’t recall and wasn’t that funny?

He frowned, his forehead creasing and he hadn’t even been aware that his eyes were closed until he had to open them to find out what Danny was up to.

He was poking Harold, making sure that he was really dead and also looking through is pockets and there was a little whoop of joy when Danny’s hand came back into sight, holding up something that look suspiciously like a phone.

“I’ll call for help then.” The blond man said and Steve nodded, “Yes, you need an ambulance.”

“I need an ambulance?”

Why was Danny sounding so odd? As if he couldn’t believe that Steve had just said that?

“Yes, “Steve confirmed, “You need to get your leg looked at.”

“And you need to stay awake.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me, “Steve said with conviction because he had been through worse and yes, he might have lost some blood because a deranged serial killer had used his body to play with his knife but obviously he wasn’t about to bleed to death considering that he was fine.

“Of course not, “this time Danny snorted, “You’re pale as a ghost, you can’t walk in a straight line, you can’t even crawl up a ladder that under normal circumstance you would’ve flown over and yet, you’re just perfectly fine. I’ll go call an ambulance for myself then…clearly you don’t need any help at all.”

Steve rolled his eyes before allowing his head to flop back onto the ground. This wasn’t comfortable but it would have to do.

“Don’t go to sleep, “Danny was by his side in no time, gently shaking him.

“I’m fine, “Steve repeated.

“You know, “Danny said thoughtfully, “Repeating it isn’t going to make it true.”

Steve’s eyes flashed in anger because he could deal with this. He wasn’t someone that couldn’t handle a little bit of pain and so what if he had gotten knocked around a little bit!

If he was in any danger of falling into a coma, what one doctor had been happily predicting if he injured his head again, then he would’ve done so already!

“I’m fine, “he repeated, ignoring the way how Danny patted his head, clearly trying to placate him.

He moved his head; he wasn’t Mr. Hoppy that Danny could pet whenever he wanted. If Danny wanted to pet him there were other ways to go about it and despite not being particularly shy, right now he wasn’t in the mood.

Danny snorted and somehow that made it all alright.

##Continued HERE##

He should’ve known that even though he was admitted to a different hospital this time around that of course his previous injuries were on his file and the moment the doctor on duty read them he was whisked away for a scan.

Apparently they feared that he had done more damage to his skull and all his protests fell on deaf ears.

Hours later Steve still felt his face contorted with disdain but apart from a bandage over his head that had been totally unnecessary he was fine, just as he had predicted.

An IV was currently giving him an excellent supply of antibiotic for all his cuts but thankfully Harold, the crazy guy, hadn’t yet gotten to the part where he would cut deep enough to cause any real damage that needed stitches.

Steve figured he had to be thankful for small favors.

At first no one had wanted to tell him anything about Danny but Hastings had stopped by telling him that his partner was fine.

His leg had needed a few stitches and they were keeping him overnight but apart from that, no lasting damage had been done either.

Steve was more than glad to hear that.

Of course they wanted to keep him for observation too but by morning he had nagged so many people that they gladly released him as long as he signed the necessary papers.

His skull was fine, he had all the antibiotics he could need and there was no need to take up a bed that could be needed for a much more severe case.

He contemplated stopping to see Danny but he decided against it. The man was about to be released too, a cute nurse had told him that and no, he hadn’t flirted with her, he had simply asked and there were a few things he needed to tidy up in the hotel room before Danny got there.

He honestly didn’t want him to find the pills or any of his medical information that he was carrying around with him.

Danny would just worry and ask questions and there was no need for that.

He was fine.

And if he repeated that long enough it might even be true.

He frowned, what was he saying? It was true! He was fine! Maybe not a hundred percent, maybe not in the same peak condition he had once been but he was still fine!

He growled and thankfully he was already in the hotel room because otherwise he might’ve gotten curious glances at his strange behaviour.

He quickly packed up his clothes, making sure that nothing suspicious was on top and then he took a long shower.

They had given him a quick wash in the hospital but frankly he wasn’t so sure what was worse: grime and blood or the smell of a hospital.

Right now he settled for hospital smell being worse.

When he was done he dressed in some clean clothes and then he curled up on the bed.

He still had no plans and maybe for now he didn’t need them because taking a nap sounded like a splendid idea to him.

##

“What’s wrong with you?” Danny voice broke through Steve’s light sleep like a sledgehammer dropping on someone unsuspecting.

He started and then forced himself to relax because it was only Danny after all.

“What?” he mumbled, rubbing his face before stretching slowly and sitting up.

The world was still slightly shaky around the edges but clearly some rest had done him good because it wasn’t as it had been before. Progress.

“I said, “Danny repeated slowly to show that he was obviously talking to someone who was mentally challenged, “What’s wrong with you?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me, “Steve defended himself but Danny simply narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

Steve twitched before running his fingers through his short hair.

“I’ve been humoring you, “Danny continued, sitting down on the edge of the bed so that he was no longer staring down at Steve.

“Do you think I wouldn’t notice the way you clutch at walls? Or the way you slightly waver at times or that you’re too pale for your own good?”

“I…”

“Don’t give me the run around, “and it was because Danny’s voice held a pleading tone that Steve’s denial died on his lips.

“There was an explosion, “he said slowly, his blue eyes clouded over when memories assaulted him. He didn’t remember much but what was the most vivid was that one moment he had been walking and then the next thing there had been sharp pain and heat and then…nothing…until he woke up in the hospital with his world upside down.

Danny said nothing and after clearing his throat Steve continued, “I don’t know what happened, I woke up in the hospital.”

“Go on,” Danny encouraged by patting Steve’s bare foot.

“Skull fracture, “the words still tasted vile whenever Steve said them out loud, “Inner ear damage, “he continued and the he shrugged.

“Skull facture?” Danny’s voice was faint, barely there when he repeated it and when Steve looked up, his eyes locking with Danny’s own blue ones.

“Skull fracture?” Danny repeated the two words a bit louder this time and Steve tilted his head sideways, saying,” Yes?” because was he speaking in riddles?

Suddenly Danny burst into motion that would’ve startled anyone but Steve who simply tensed before allowing his body to relax again.

Danny was jumping up and down; waving his hands while his blue eyes darted over Steve’s form, obviously cataloguing anything that was out of the ordinary.

“You didn’t tell me!” Danny accused and Steve raised an eyebrow.

“I knew something was wrong, “Danny continued, more hands waving, “because you would never quit the army…”

“Navy, “Steve spit out but Danny ignored him.

“but I figured it must’ve been something minor or maybe you did something too crazy and they decided that enough was enough…I didn’t expect you to have a skull fracture!”

“Danny…”

The man whirled around, his finger pointing at him now as if he was about to poke Steve who simply stared him down.

“Argh!” Danny exclaimed, “I can’t even hit you because you’re an idiot! You’re injured. You got no place working an active case! You could’ve gotten hurt!”

And then Danny’s eyes widened, obviously he remembered that Steve had gotten hurt and then the man fell silent, his hands falling to his side and he just stood there, staring.

It was unnerving and now Steve was getting worried because a loud Danny was all right. This silent treatment with shuttered eyes wasn’t what he was used it and he didn’t like it.

“Danny?” Steve said tentatively and the man shook his head.

“I can’t talk to you right now, “the man finally said, eyes blazing with both anger and sadness. “How could you keep this from me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me, “Steve spit out, “I’m fine. I might not be as good as new but that doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with me!”

The last bit was actually shouted and for a moment Danny’s mouth hung open and his eyes were wide.

Then he shook his blond head like a golden retriever who had just gotten wet and when he looked up again there was a steely determination in his eyes that gave Steve pause.

“Well that’s that, “Danny said with conviction, “You’re coming home with me. You’re not allowed to disappear because obviously you cannot be left on your own.”

“Danny…”Steve tried to object because he was a grown man, he most certainly could be left on his own and why was Danny looking at him like that?

“No, Steve, “Danny simply said, “I can’t let you out of my sight again because if I don’t keep an eye on you, you’ll get yourself killed.”

Steve narrowed his eyes because it was now his turn to glare, “I got on just fine before you showed up, “he pushed out, anger flaring inside him and he folded his hands across his chest to prove some point even though he wasn’t sure which one.

“I don’t care, “Danny said with conviction, “You’re coming home with me and if you think about running I’ll have Chin declare you a felon on the run and then I’ll have you transported back home. Your choice.”

Steve settled for glaring because he knew Danny well enough that he wasn’t threatening something like this without following through and Chin was mad enough to actually do it. He could reverse it after just as quickly as he came up with the false charges, the man was simply that good.

“We’re going home, Steve, “Danny said, patting his foot again and the where I can keep an eye on you was heavily implied.

Steve glared, his blue eyes narrowed because he didn’t need a keeper but why was he arguing with Danny?

It wasn’t as if he had many options and Hawaii was his home. Staying away out of spite or to prove some moot point would be stupid and while Steve admitted that he was many things he most certainly wasn’t stupid.

“No comment then?” Danny asked, raising an eyebrow. “Good, I’ll get out tickets. You just stay there…”

Danny patted his foot again while Steve glared after him.

He might’ve won this round but if Danny thought that one measly skull fracture was going to give him the right to order him around then he was mistaken!

“Should’ve ordered him around sooner, “he could hear Danny mumbling to himself, “Obviously he responds better to orders than polite conversation…”

Steve’s mouth hung open and he wasn’t sure if it was out of outrage or out of laughter because Danny was busy stuffing his suitcase, tongue peaking out while his longish blond hair was falling into his face, making him look like some sort of crazed monkey.

In the end he settled for snorting and for rolling onto his side. He was already packed; no reason to get up until Danny had their flights sorted.

And before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry this update took so long. I still have some issues with this part but I've been stewing over it for weeks now and if it hasn't gotten better now I don't think it ever well. So here it is, Part 3 and the conclusion to my story.

Part 3: Forever or just a blip on the radar?

“We’re going on a date.” Danny’s voice filtered through Steve’s thoughts and he nearly dropped the water bottle he had been holding.

He caught it before it fell into the sand, looking up at his friend with slightly wide eyes.

“What?”

“You, “Danny pointed to him before pointing at himself, “Me, we’re going on a date.”

Steve scrunched up his nose because he wasn’t all that fond of dates.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t dated before but it had never really gotten anywhere.

He had always enjoyed casual sex with friends and people he met during his line of work and the only one he had enjoyed seeing for months at a time had been Catherine.

“Danny…”Steve hedged but Danny shook his blond head.

“No, you’re back and we need to figure this out between us.”

Steve sighed, rubbing his chin because yes, Danny got that right.

“Alright, “he conceded, “One date. Let’s see how it goes.”

##

He’d only been back in his house for like an hour before both Chin and Kono descended on him, bearing baskets of food and stern looks.

Apparently Danny had clued them in that he had gotten injured and Kono was in mother mode trying to ensure that he didn’t lift a finger while she put away the groceries.

Chin was more subtle but then again the guy wasn’t known for displays of emotion.

He chewed on his lower lip, allowing his friends to rummage around to their heart’s content because he was fine and he could indulge them as much as he wanted.

There were slight changes in the house but he didn’t mind them. Danny had taken good care of it for him and he didn’t mind that he had converted Steve’s old room into a guest room and Mary’s room was now Grace’s whenever she slept over.

“You could’ve used the master bedroom, “Steve pointed out because while his room had been spacious for a boy he wasn’t so sure that it was big enough for a man like Danny.

“That’s your room, “Danny shot back, placing a bowl what looked like fruit salad onto his legs. Steve looked and yes, there were pineapples in it and with a wide grin he picked on up and chewed on it.

He let the issue drop because it might have been a good thing that Danny hadn’t slept in his bed because he didn’t need to wonder about it when he tried to sleep.

His mind was filled with images of Danny all that time anyway and he didn’t need to add dreaming to the list of things where Danny showed up.

“You’ll need to go and see a doctor, “Danny said and Kono interrupted, “And probably a shrink considering that you got cut up by a serial killer.”

Danny nodded and Steve looked left and right because what he had no clue what they were talking about.

“Why would I need to see a doctor?” he asked.

“So that you can be back on duty, stupid, “Danny said, stealing a fruit that wasn’t a pineapple from his bowl.

Steve frowned because they still weren’t making any sense.

“The governor and Danny here decided to give you a leave of absence when you left, “Chin explained because apparently he was the only one who thought it was necessary to speak plain English.

“So I still have a job?” Steve asked, voice incredulous because he hadn’t expected that.

“Of course you do, “Danny scoffed, “You’ll have to be declared fit for duty and you might not be able to run around like a crazy person but you’re still going to be on the task force.”

Steve’s mouth hung open for a second before he forced it shut.

He blinked several times trying to process that. He hadn’t expected it but he would be lying if he wouldn’t admit that he wasn’t glad for it.

He nodded and then smiled at all of them and with a nod of her own, Kono took her cue to get up and bring the rest of the dinner over.

It boggled the mind that Steve could go back to his old life and even though he would never admit to it out loud, he was well aware that there were going to be some limitations posed on him.

He was going to push those limitations of course because that was who he was.

He sighed, chewing on yet another pineapple slice.

Danny had moved in, the house had withstood the whirlwind that was Danny Williams and he could go back to hunting bad guys.

Honestly, he couldn’t complain. Life couldn’t get any better than that.

##

He had almost expected Mary to show up when he had returned home and when word had gotten out that he had gotten injured.

Instead she had called, bitched at him for being an idiot and then started to send him what she called idiot reminders for the next few days.

Thankfully it had been a full day now since the last text and he was hopeful that she had finally gotten tired of it.

He was nearly done with his medication, the antibiotics and the stuff he was taking for his head and he hoped he wasn’t imagining it but he could tell that he seemed to be improving with every passing day.

He might never be as steady on his feet as he had once been but he had taken up swimming again and it had done him good.

Danny of course didn’t know about it because he guy was sometimes a nuisance in the things he thought Steve should be doing as if he couldn’t leave him alone for a minute because that would result in Steve blowing something up and injuring himself in the process.

It would be insulting if Steve didn’t know that Danny cared and that his constant refusal to let Grace anywhere near the beach had only been out of fear.

And to keep his daughter out of a bikini.

Thankfully Kono had breached Danny’s stubbornness while he had been gone because there was a picture of Danny and Grace plus a surfboard right next to one of the few family photos that Steve had of his own.

One day he was going to have to see it for himself but right now he was still trying to catch up with how life had moved on after he had left.

In a way he felt as if he had been the one standing still while everyone and everything around him had moved on.

And maybe, a tiny voice in his brain said, it was time to move on to.

##

“Have you ever found out who tried to kill me and frame you or Stan for it?”

Steve watched Danny splutter and nearly choke on his vegetables while giving him a glare.

“That isn’t what you’re supposed to talk about on a date, “he complained and Steve only shrugged.

He hadn’t been the one to insist on this nonsense and what else was he supposed to talk about?

Danny used the napkin to tidy himself up before shaking his head, “No. We found the goons that were hired to kill you and who set everything in motion but we never actually found the guy who had ordered the hit.”

“Any leads?” Steve slowly cut his own steak, taking a few bites.

His appetite was slowly returning and he was glad for it.

“A few, “Danny admitted, “but nothing panned out.”

Steve was about to poke further when Danny offered, “I’ll get the files for you tomorrow.”

“Thanks, “Steve smiled at him.

He should’ve known that when the date started out this well, it could only go downhill from there.

##

“Watch out!” someone shouted and then suddenly a steaming pile of pasta was deposited in Danny’s lap.

Steve blinked, hand frozen in mid air with a piece of vegetable stuck on the fork and after a few more seconds he burst out laughing.

“I’m so sorry, “the harried waiter tried to apologize but he actually was making it worse because now he was trying to use a napkin to clear the food off Danny’s clothes.

All around everyone was staring at them and Steve had to cling to the table to stop himself from toppling over.

This was priceless!

“This isn’t funny, McGarrett, “Danny sent a glare his way but honestly, Steve was too amused to care.

“Stop that, “Danny’s heated gaze was now focused on the poor waiter who nearly fell backwards trying to get away from Danny.

“Please accept my apologies for this, “the restaurant manager tried to smile at the men, “Of course your meal is on the house.”

“I’d be more interested in the cleaning bill, “Danny grumbled and of course the manager with his bat ears heard him because with a smile he quickly added, “And please, if you leave your name with the hostess we will of course refund for the cleaning bill.”

“Thank you, “Steve said on Danny’s behalf because it was becoming obvious that Danny wasn’t going to do it.

“Do you want to go home?” Steve asked the moment they were alone again and with a sigh Danny nodded, “I don’t want to cut our night short but I also don’t want to run around with pasta sauce stuck to my trousers…”

Steve threw his head back, laughing again, “That was priceless, “he said out loud this time around, “Honestly, money can’t buy that kind of entertainment.”

Danny narrowed his eyes and before Steve could duck, Danny emptied his glass of wine in Steve’s face.

“Do you still think this is funny?”

Steve sat still for a few seconds before he reached for a piece of carrot, getting ready to hurl it across the table but instead a distress looking waiter came into view.

“I’m so sorry, “he said again, “But we do not allow food fights in our establishments.”

“Let’s go, “Danny threw the napkin onto the table before reaching out and practically dragging Steve onto his feet.

“I should’ve known that you can’t be taken out into polite company. Seriously, I should’ve seen this coming!”

Steve snorted, slightly offended but still taking this whole thing with good humor.

“Oh come on, Danno, “he said, allowing himself to be pulled out into the cooler night air. “It wasn’t my fault that the guy tripped and spilled the plate onto your lap.”

“No, “Danny conceded but if Steve thought he had won this round then he was mistaken because Danny added, “But now we can’t go back there because you had to start throwing food at me!”

“Hey, “Steve objected, reaching for his keys and unlocking the car, “I wasn’t the one who threw the wine in my face!”

“So this is now may fault?”

“I never said that!” Steve shouted back, “But it sure as hell isn’t mine!”

“Well, it ain’t mine either!” Danny shouted back and then he got into the car, banging the door shut behind him.

Steve rubbed his face, feeling tired all of a sudden.

Why did they have to go out on a date?

Maybe they were doing this backwards, Danny had after all already moved in with him but so far they hadn’t even talked about where they thought they were doing.

Steve sighed; he still cared for Danny and those feelings hadn’t gone away when he had been gone. And being back home, seeing Danny twenty-four-seven was only making it worse.

And yes, he also wanted the man in his bed. The few kisses they had shared had only served to ignite the fire, stroking it and making it burn white hot.

He wanted to run his fingers through Danny’s hair, see what it felt like when it wasn’t tamed, he wanted to run his hands over the man’s body, exploring every scare and every curve and yes, he also wanted to see what Danny’s cock looked like.

And from the heated glances that Danny had sent his way, he didn’t think that he was alone with those feelings.

##

The sudden impact had Steve lunching forward and only years of training and excellent reflexes stopped him from banging his head against the glass.

“Now you’ve done!” came the enraged voice from Danny next to him. “You’ve killed Bambi!”

First of all, deer weren’t really animals to worry about in Hawaii of all places and second of all, he hadn’t been the one driving!

“What do you mean I killed Bambi?” Steve barked, “You’re the one driving!” he folded his hands across his chest in an involuntary defensive position before he realized what he was doing.

With a roll of his eyes he quickly opened the passenger door, untangling his long legs from the inside of the car before stepping outside into the dark.

Normally he would’ve never let Danny drive, even if they were taking Danny’s car but he hadn’t really been able to argue the point that a recent head injury and still occasional dizzy spells didn’t necessarily qualify him to be save behind the well.

Plus, not actually having his driver license back might also have had something to do with it. Apparently after recovering from some injuries he had to take the test again to proof that he wasn’t a menace behind the wheel.

Pretty darn annoying if anyone asked him.

“But this is your fault!” the ever logical Danny Williams who clearly wasn’t a hot head at all exclaimed, shouting the words after Steve who was already in front of the car, peering down onto the road.

There was nothing there.

“Are you sure you hit something?” Steve shot back and he only startled minutely when Danny materialized next to him.

“Do you think the car ran into a force barrier then? Stopped by the air alone?” Danny grumbled, rubbing his chin while staring down onto the road much like Steve.

Apart from a pineapple though there wasn’t anything there.

“I hit a pineapple?” Danny’s voice rose through the roof, a force of his disbelieve and frankly Steve was right there with him.

A pineapple?

A pineapple couldn’t stop a car. It might dent a hood if it got thrown at it but pineapples weren’t minions of evil, contrary to what Danny thought, waiting in hiding to bounce on unsuspecting mainlanders at any chance they got.

Honestly Danny’s problem with pineapples was bordering on some sort of disorder but since he wasn’t one to talk about mental issues he had always let it slide.

Still, they had hit a pineapple?

Both men stared at the fruit with wide eyes. It wasn’t even squished!

“That’s not happening, “Danny stated firmly, turning around and walking back to the car as if to signal that this hadn’t happened and they were never to talk about it again.

Steve wasn’t so sure he could do that.

There was no point in denying that something had been hit because the car had stopped suddenly.

He frowned, raising the hood of the car. He knew enough to fix up the car his father had left him but he was by no means a mechanic.

Since there was no way a pineapple could’ve stopped the car and contrary to untold scifi movies out there, force barriers made out of air didn’t exist either then the only other reason why the car had suddenly stopped was because someone had tampered with it.

Still, what was it with the pineapple?

“Danny, “Steve said slowly, “Get out of the car.”

“What?”

“Run!” Steve shouted, eyes slightly wide and maybe even panicky even though he would never admit to it and moments later Danny was out of the car dashing sideways while Steve ran in the opposite direction diving behind a nearby bush just as the car bust into a ball of flame.

This time though the pineapple didn’t survive to gloat about it.

##

The force of the explosion sent Steve further into the bushes that he would’ve liked, branches tearing at his face. The stings though barely registered because when it came to the injuries he had always suffered in his life, getting scratched by a few branches was akin to getting tickled.

Well, maybe not quite as pleasurable but it was hardly anything worth mentioning.

“Steve!” Danny’s voice rang through the night and Steve shook his head once, twice, before he scrambled back onto his feet.

“I’m here, “he shouted over the roar of the fire, carefully making his way towards Danny’s voice.

“I’ve called it in,” was the first thing Danny said when Steve reached him followed by hands on his body, patting him down as if there was a price for it.

“I’m fine,” Steve bit out because Danny’s tendency to look at him as if he couldn’t take of himself was getting on his nerves.

He appreciated that his friend was shaken with what had happened to him; getting kidnapped by a serial killer and then learning that he had suffered a skull fracture with probably lasting effects had been bad enough but he was still Steve. Slightly impaired maybe but one measly explosion wasn’t going to do him in! He was made of sterner stuff than that!

And if he swayed a little bit on his feet then he was ignoring it.

“Let’s sit down,” Danny offered, taking his hand and leading him towards the edge of the road, away from the burning car.

Steve gritted his teeth because he knew that Danny didn’t want to sit. He only suggested it because he thought that Steve was going to fall on his ass and if he actually hadn’t wanted to sit down then…well, then Steve had no clue what he would’ve done.

Getting used to his own limitations was proving harder than he would’ve thought. And snapping at Danny and at anyone around him wasn’t going to make things any easier but for the life of him he didn’t know how to stop.

He had been aware that what fuelled him the most was anger, followed by his sense of duty to his country and then the fact that he thrived on danger hadn’t really helped matters either.

Being called an adrenalin junkie might not be flattering but if the shoe fitted? Well, he couldn’t argue the point that he enjoyed a little excitement mixed in with his entertainment and frankly he doubted that no one would survive in the SEALs unless the liked being in the thick of things.

Kind of like it was a requirement to be good with numbers to be a good accountant…

So it ate at him having to admit to his weakness when before he could’ve swept them under the rug. He would have never claimed to be without a fault but before he had been able to deal with them privately and now that wasn’t an option anymore. They were out there for everyone to see and that left him exposed. And he didn’t do so well when being exposed.

Steve sighed, fidgeting with his dirty trousers to gather his thoughts.

Who wanted them dead?

Or maybe just Danny?

That was a frightening thought and for a moment Steve forgot to breathe.

“Any new enemies I should know about?” he tried for casual but he doubted he was successful.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Danny apparently was still on the attack even though no one had killed Bambi. And the car exploding obviously hadn’t been his fault either!

“This was your car,” Steve pointed out helpfully and when that only got him a snappy, “What?” he had to take a deep breath before decking his friend.

“Your car exploded. Cars don’t just do that out of their own free will. Hence there must've been a bomb.”

Which was what he had seen when he had opened the hood. Well, there had been something there that he had been fairly certain had no business being under the hood of a car and his reflexes had kicked in, assuming the worst case scenario instead of considering that maybe he could be wrong.

And obviously he had acted correctly because if had tallied for even a second they might not have made it out of the blast range and getting barbecued alive wasn’t on his list of things to experience!

“Hence?” Danny repeated, “Seriously? Hence?”

“Focus, Danny,” Steve snapped, “Someone tried to kill us. And since I haven’t been home in months and this was your car, I don’t think they meant to blow me up!”

That shut Danny up and while Steve did enjoy the silence he didn’t much like the cause of it.

So much for their first date.

And it didn’t help that he had been right; dating never turned out well for him. For once though he kind of wished he had been wrong.

##

Being wrapped in a blanket was supposed to make him feel better and even glaring at the EMT who was only doing his job wasn’t making it any better. He had tried getting rid of it but apparently there were more to be had because seconds later someone else had inquired if he needed one and voila, another had gotten draped across his shoulders.

“We should get you checked out,” one guy said, “Your partner advised us on your medical condition…”

And that was the final straw. Steve got up, dropping the blanket into the startled EMTs hands before snarling, “I’m fine.”

Before any objections could be voice he had stalked off towards Danny, ready to give him his mind at shoving him out of the way and honestly if his partner hadn’t been joined by Chin staring at him with quiet worry and by Kono gently shoving him towards the ambulance he would’ve told them to get over it.

Instead he had been touched by their concern and in a moment of weakness, maybe only a few seconds long, he had gotten bundled up and the EMTs had swarmed all over him like flies.

He rubbed his forehead; this had got to stop.

He might not be a 100 % but he was fine. And he was going to proof it.

##

The ride home was silent; Danny for once not talking should’ve sent him on edge but Steve was too caught up with him own thoughts that he hardly noticed.

The next morning he was busy with his appointments and by the end of the day he had it on good authority that he was fit for duty again.

He also had been told to avoid anything strenuous and stick to a desk for now but of course he had no intention of actually following through on any of that.

And if the shrink had asked him one more time how he felt he would’ve shown him how he felt by shoving his boot in the man’s face.

The only thing holding him back had been the fact that the man, as annoying as he was, was standing between him and being back on the task force so he had gritted his teeth and smiled as pleasantly he could.

Catherine had told him many times he had a nice smile and that he should use it more often and apparently the woman had known what she was talking about because it had worked like a charm!

Getting his license back was now only a formality and after dropping off the necessary forms he was done for today. For a brief moment he stared at the phone, wondering if he should call Danny but then he pocketed it, deciding against it.

He was going to proof to them that he could still do things on his own and there were other means to gather information than going into the office and catch up.

He had friends on the islands; maybe friends might be too lose a term but he had contacts and if there was anything going on big enough like blowing up the car of a prestigious task force then surely someone must’ve heard something!

If nothing penned out he could always go with plan b and talk to Danny in the evening.

##

For once Steve adhered to as many road rules as he could remember because he was driving without a license and while he didn’t doubt that the Governor would smooth things over for him should he get caught he wasn’t going to try and chance it.

Danny had left this morning in Steve’s jeep and when he had been gone, Steve had taken his father’s car.

Danny must’ve worked on it while he had been gone because it was running like a dream and not stalling half way to where he was going.

“Jimmy!” Steve smiled, waving at the guy and after a second he got a wave back. Jimmy was an old acquaintance from his school days with ties to one the local major players.

“McGarrett, it's been a while!”

After a few pleasantries Steve got to the point.

“Did you hear of any plans concerning my task force?”

“Is that about the car bomb from last night?” Word apparently travelled fast and it didn’t help that it had made the news either.

“What do you think?” Steve shot back, rolling his eyes.

“I could ask a few questions…”

“Thanks,” Steve said, handing out his number with strict instructions to only call him once his friend learned anything.

After a few more similar visits Steve finally high tailed it back home, ignoring the fact that fearless Steve McGarrett wanted to be home before Danny got off from work and before his partner could figure out that he had been driving without a license.

##

When Danny eventually got home hours after Steve had expected him, Danny found him with files strewn across the living room.

“What’s this?” Danny asked and Steve looked up, a crooked smile on his face.

“That’s the files you brought back in regards to Rachel and me.”

“Ah,” was all Danny had to say to that, “Have you figured out something that we missed?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Steve answered, not really surprised there even though he had been hopeful that his excellent team might have overlooked something.

“Why don’t you run me through it again?” he asked, leaning back so that his back was against the sofa, stretching out his long legs in front of him.

“I thought you read the files?”

“Yes, but it helps if you talk me through it,” Steve explained and with a sigh Danny nodded, heading towards the kitchen.

When he came back he held a beer out to Steve who took it before sitting down again.

Steve wasn’t going to remind him that he was still taking pills and that strictly speaking he should stay away from alcohol.

But a few sips hadn’t harmed anyone yet, right?

“As you know it was Chin who figured out that the photos were faked,” Danny started, obviously trying very hard to keep his voice even.

Steve didn’t relish the fact that they had to rehash the past but frankly it might be connected to the recent attempt on Danny’s life.

Then again it might not be connected at all but frankly Steve had nothing but time on his hands right now and no other lead in regards to the car bomb had come in yet.

So figuring out who had wanted him dead, and might still want him dead, was also quite high on his list of things to do and to kill.

Because if he had learned anything then it was no one left an enemy behind alive.

Danny might call that a stupid law of the jungle but Steve would call is surviving and common sense.

“You sort of blew up most of our leads,” which got Steve to chuckle slightly because yes, he remembered that. Rachel had been kick ass and frankly quite a good partner for a total rookie.

No wonder Danny had married, they were like two peas in a pod even though they had drifted apart by wanting different things.

“We couldn’t make any charges stick because technically making fake photos isn’t a crime and since there was no blackmail attempt made, we really didn’t have enough for an arrest.”

Steve nodded. Technically the photos had set everything in motion but like Danny had said fabricating photos in itself wasn't a crime.

The goal had been to kill Steve but to make it look as if either Stan had killed him in a jealous rage or as if Danny had done the same.

There wouldn’t have been enough evidence to frame either one of them but it would’ve distracted everyone involved long enough from who had really taken out the hit on Steve.

“Did you figure out why they wanted me dead?”

Danny shrugged; “We thought it might have had something to do with your past but we didn’t get anywhere there either.”

“Hm,” Steve rubbed the bridge of his nose, “And with Hesse behind bars it wasn’t as if there were many suspects out there who wanted me dead.”

“At least that we knew of,” Danny grinned for a moment and after a second Steve returned it, “Yeah,” he said, “You’re right.”

“I’m sure,” Steve continued after a bit, “That I’ve angered quite a lot of people in my time but those operations rarely turned personal. And wanting to kill someone is either highly personal or part of a bigger plan.”

“Yes,” Danny agreed, “When we couldn’t come up with a motive for wanting you out of the way we figured that they wanted to cripple the task force. Draw our attention away from what was going on.”

“And it would’ve worked,” Steve mused, “With me dead and you or your Ex-wive's new husband as the main suspects, the press would’ve been all over it and it would’ve caused a circus.”

“But that didn’t happen,” Danny pointed out, causing Steve to nod.

“So did they decide to abort or did they still go ahead?” he said out loud and as an answer Danny shrugged.

“There was one big heist that took place around that time but we caught the culprits after you left. And apart from that nothing major happened. Nothing that could’ve possibly warranted a set up like that.”

“Was there any money trail?” Steve asked, rifling through the papers, unsure if he had seen such an information somewhere.

“No,” Danny dashed his hopes, “The guy making the photos got paid in cash and he thought it was a prank. Posting them then was the easy part.”

“Nothing there?”

It was now Danny’s turn to roll his eyes, “Do you have any idea how many places sell stamps around here? And how many mail boxes there are?”

Steve sighed, seeing Danny’s point.

“Chin did try to narrow it down so that he could maybe try to run a search but frankly there was no way to get anything narrowed done far enough.”

“You go the photos that morning?” Steve was now thinking out loud, an idea taking hold in the back of his mind. He had to run with it, see where it led him.

“Yes?” Danny phrased that as a question, obviously unsure where Steve was going with this.

“The mail in the office arrives in the morning and then gets distributed so that by the time everyone shows up, it’s already there…”

“Yes?” Danny asked again.

“But I don’t get my new mail until at least lunch time and considering that by the time I talked to Rachel she was already aware of them…”

“She must’ve gotten the post the previous day, only looking through it on the same morning…” Danny finished the sentence.

“So either they were posted at different times,” Steve continued.

“Or the pictures at work were delivered personally.”

“Then again, it wasn’t Rachel who was supposed to find them,” Steve continued, “At what time does Stan usually go through his mail?”

“Let me find out,” Danny said quickly, fishing out his phone and dialling.

A quick conversation later, he pocketed the phone again, looking at Steve.

“Rachel says that they don’t get the mail until later in the day and that the main sorts them before going home. That way Stan can go through his mail before heading out to work the next morning.”

“So unless it was sheer luck that you both opened the letters at the same time, someone must’ve been aware of this.”

Danny nodded, “It would make no sense to send them out at different times. The point was to get both me and Stan so angry that we caused a scene, making us suspects when you turned up dead.”

“And that only works if both of you get mad at the same time before I could defend myself.”

“Danny?” Steve added when Danny suddenly got a vacant expression on his face. “Danny?” Steve repeated, reaching out to shake his partner but before he could make contact the man shook his head as if clearing away whatever had held him under a spell.

“I didn’t think anything off it until now,” he said slowly, “but I got early to work that way. And the envelop was already on my desk.”

“So?”

“The official post hadn’t arrived yet. It came later but by that time I had already punched you and I hardly took any notice of it.”

“So your photos were delivered personally and only made to look as if they had gone through the mail.”

“Yes!” Danny was getting excited, standing up, hands flailing in his typical manner. “There was even a stamp on it, here, look…”

He bent down again, rifling through the papers until he produced a photocopy of the envelop in question.

It did have a stamp on it.

“We need to pull the security feeds for that morning,” Steve said, “and…”

“And I’ll talk to Rachel…”Danny finished and for a moment both men smiled at each other, a warm glow between them because it was good to have proof that despite everything that had happened, their partnership was still as sold as ever.

And if neither one of them brought up the subject of their botched date or their feelings than that wasn’t all that out of the ordinary either.

But like with many things, an elephant in the room could only be ignored for so long before it reared its hind legs.

##

Steve wasn’t a slouch when it came to information gathering but if he were honest with himself, he had always been better with the action side of things.

Which was why the next morning in the office he delegated the task of going through the surveillance feeds from the fateful day in question to Chin.

Chin was better at it and who was he to mess with Chin and his talent for getting the computer to work properly?

“Yes?” he barked into the phone, balancing it between his ear and hand while refilling his coffee.

“McGarrett?”

“Jimmy,” Steve put the coffee down, caffeine need forgotten, “You got something for me?”

“Sure do!”

##

Blood stains were so hard to get out, Steve thought balefully as he looked down on the corpse and on his beige cargo pants.

He had arrived just in time for Jimmy to utter one word, one name before the light in his eyes had gone out forever.

Problem was though that the name meant nothing to him. Nothing at all.

 

##

“Who the tell is Kung Po?” Steve glared at the computer, debating whether hitting the screen would get him any answers.

“As in the chicken?”

“Huh?” Steve looked up, staring at Danny as if he had gotten two heads, “Kung Po chicken.”

Steve blinked, eyes suddenly wide.

He discarded the current program in favor of Internet search typing in Kung Po and Oahu.

“What are you looking for?” Danny was chewing on yet another malasada and with a frown Steve looked up.

“You sure you want to eat those?” he asked, watching Danny shrug in answer.

“You want one?” the blond man offered and Steve shook his back, making sure to be nowhere near the pastry.

“No, thanks. I kind of like my arteries to be able to do their work.”

“Smartass,” Danny replied before swatting him over the head.

Steve lifted his head only for a moment to glare before focusing once again on the task at hand.

“So what are you looking for?” Danny said in between chews and Steve decided that maybe sharing was better than doing this on his own.

He still needed to proof to Danny that he could take care of himself; that he didn’t need him to worry about him because if they ever were to move forward he needed Danny to know that. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if Danny thought he was less of man now simply because he wasn’t quite the way he had once been.

A huge part of him still refused to admit that things were never going to go back to way they had been but the more rational part, hidden deep down, acknowledged that he had gotten lucky and that some limitations will have to be factored in from now on.

Eventually he might actually admit that to himself but for now, ignoring it was still very much on the to do list.

But if he was ignoring it, why was it then so important to proof to Danny, to proof to the world that he was still Steve McGarrett, bad ass?

He resisted the urge to bang his head against the keyboard.

“I met with an old friend of mine today and all he said was Kung Po.”

“You sure he wasn’t hungry?”

“Considering that he was about to die I doubt that,” Steve answered dryly and really, he should’ve seen Danny’s reaction coming since calm and rational weren’t really words that Danny practiced a lot.

“You what?” the man shouted, dropping his bag before twirling Steve’s chair around so that he could face him head on.

“You met up with an informant without me?”

Steve opened his mouth to answer but Danny didn’t let him get a word in edgewise.

“Do you have a death wish?”

“He wouldn’t have met with me if you had been there,” Steve answered, knowing that this was probably true even though it hadn’t been the reason why he had gone out alone.

“Let me spell this out Mr. SEAL who can’t do any wrong. If you set so much as a toe outside this building without me by your side I will chain you to your desk and leave you there!”

“You’re over reacting, Danny,” Steve tried his most calm and logical voice, “I’ve gone out plenty a times on my own before.”

“That was before…” and for a moment Steve thought Danny would say before he had gotten his head bashed in but instead Danny said, “That was before someone tried to kill both of us!”

And put that way, Steve had to admit, that Danny might have a point.

He conceded the point by sighing, rubbing his jaw and letting Danny have the last word.

Thankfully Chin interrupted any further discussion by poking his head in and announcing that he found something.

“You and me,” Danny pointed at Steve before pointing at himself, “We’re going to be glued at the hips from now on, got that?”

That conjured up an image that definitely wasn’t work sanctioned and thankfully Danny was already outside when Steve felt his face flush.

Well, he thought, feeling invigorated. The sooner they got whoever was out to see them dead the sooner they could get started on their other issues and hopefully that would lead them straight to bed.

Frankly, it’s been a while since Steve’s gotten laid and he had lusted after Danny long before they had their falling out and it was getting ridiculous.

By the time they finally got around to doing anything he would probably come so fast the he would too embarrassed to ever touch Danny again and that definitely wasn’t something he wanted to happen.

He printed off the list of restaurants and other shops that had Kung Po in the name and then he headed outside to meet his team.

##

Normally he wouldn’t have minded to spend time with Danny but the man was taking this to the extreme, hovering around him and driving him to distraction and not necessarily in a good way!

“I’m perfectly capable of entering the restaurant on my own,” Steve grumbled but Danny wasn’t listening to him.

“I’m hungry anyway, so let’s eat.” Danny said instead, taking the lead and entering the restaurant before Steve could stop him.

He shook his head, hoping this wasn’t another attempt at a sneaky date because the last one hadn’t turned out so well.

They took their seats, ordered some food and contrary to the sometimes awkward glances between them, conversation still flowed easily.

“I’ll get the cheque,” Danny said, getting up.

“We share,” Steve protested, reaching for his own wallet but the blond man stopped him by placing a hand on his own.

“I might be slow on a few things but this was a date. And where I come from, someone always pays for the meal.”

“I’m not the woman here,” Steve objected causing Danny to roll his eyes.

“Believe me, Rachel paid for quite a few meals we shared while we were dating. So my friend, this is on me. Next time we get to enjoy a meal out, it’ll be your turn.”

Steve could’ve argued about this but why bother? If Danny would only consider taking their obvious attraction further by going on a few dates then he honestly wasn’t going to get anywhere by pissing into the wind.

And crude metaphor aside, this date hadn’t turned out so well. Maybe they should forgo planning and just live in the moment!

Honestly though finding that pineapple in the middle of the road would’ve been hilarious if the car hadn’t blown up seconds later.

Steve frowned, rubbing his jaw while he fiddled for his car keys.

A pineapple.

How hadn’t he noticed this before?

The perp could’ve used anything to ‘stop’ the car. Hell, a tree stump would’ve work just as well since the car had been rigged to stop on command.

Hm…he should check into the traffic cams, see if anyone followed them.

But besides that, leaving a pineapple for them to find was a sign. Maybe this wasn’t so much about wanting him dead as it was about Danny?

Maybe killing him was an added bonus but if the pineapple had anything to do with it, then the car blowing up had been meant for Danny.

His dislike for anything pineapple related wasn’t really a secrete after all.

So again, how hadn’t he seen this before?

He might have cracked his skull but to his knowledge he hadn’t gone dumb!

“See that light?” a man stepped behind him and before Steve could react he could fee the outline of a gun pressing into his ribs.

Still, he wouldn’t have let himself be led away if the red light hadn’t indicated on a sniper on the rooftop with Danny in his sight.

“If you’re a good boy then Danny won’t come to any harm. At least not yet.”

Steve played possum, allowing himself to be led away and forced into the back of an unmarked van. But appearances could be deceiving and the man’s first mistake had been not taking Steve’s phone.

Calling Danny blind by simply pushing his speed dial wasn’t hard and when the call connected he made sure to quickly say, “Where do you think you’re going to take me at gunpoint?”

Danny might have geared up for a rant but no sound come across the airwaves the moment he heard Steve’s words.

Then Steve made sure to press the screen lock and to look as harmless as possible.

##

The goon ushered Steve into a warehouse and seriously, what was up with low life criminals always using abandoned warehouses? Cliché much?

He cased the area, taking in the entry and exit points, putting a map together in this head. He also noticed the loose wiring which could cause problems.

“Sit,” the man demanded and since no chair was offered, Steve simply sat down on the floor.

He brushed shards of glass away and keeping a bigger one in the palm of his hand, concealing him from the stupid man.

He felt slightly offended to have been forced to allow himself getting kidnapped by someone as inapt as this but first of all Danny had been in danger and no one was hurting Danny! And second this would lead him to person behind it all and once Danny showed up they would finally be able to close this case for good.

And frankly Steve was getting rather tired of wondering if he was the target or Danny or maybe both.

They didn’t have to wait long and with all his experience Steve still hadn’t expected the man approach him now.

“Stan?” Steve couldn’t help himself, he had to ask. He knew very well who this man was but his mind couldn’t wrap itself around what it was seeing.

“McGarrett,” the man said slowly, keeping his distance.

“Why do you want me dead?” Steve asked, hoping the man would fall for the age old trick of the villain revealing the plot in the face of a supposed victory.

And frankly, this was a victory because his phone was still connected, whatever Stan said would be heard and even if Steve ended up dead, Stan would end up behind bars securing the safety of Danny and his family.

“You think I fall for that?”

Steve shrugged, “I’m curious. You’re going to finish the job, right? Can’t let a man die without knowing why, right? Wouldn’t be decent.”

Stan actually seemed to contemplate what Steve had said and it took all of Steve’s will power not to roll his eyes at the man.

The goon was still silent; probably hired muscle with nothing to say.

“When we moved her Danny wasn’t supposed to follow.”

Steve grunted to show he was listening, biting his tongue to actually stop from saying something because he needed to allow Stan to say his piece. Then he could call him names. Or maybe he should let Danny do that because the blond man was definitely better at the whole rant thing than he ever could be.

“But he moved.”

Duh, Steve thought, the man loves his daughter. Of course he moved!

“How could I start my new life with my wife if she was always talking about Danny? Obsessing about his visitation rights, fighting with him on the phone and every time her ex called her eyes lit up!”

With fury, Steve mentally added because he had been there when a tentative truth between Rachel and Danny had been formed.

And what had Stan expected? Rachel and Danny might no longer in love but there clearly were still strong emotions involved and they would always be! They have a daughter together! Nothing could change the fact that Rachel was Grace’s Mom or that Danny was her father!

They would always be connected, be a family even if it was a fractured one.

How could someone as smart as Stan be that stupid and not realize the obvious? It had taken all of half a day for Steve to realize Grace was Danny’s life and he was well aware that if Danny ever gave into their relationship, he would come in second.

And surely there was nothing wrong with that because a daughter should always come first with her father!

“I’ve got nothing against you personally,” Stan continued, “But I needed Danny out of the way.”

“So you hired someone to kill me, fake photos of me and Rachel and then left them at your own home?”

Steve was honestly confused now.

“I did,” Stan confirmed, “Do you have any idea how easy it was to get someone to deliver the photos and then to stay silent about it? Money honestly goes a long way.”

A short pause followed with Stan revealing more of his crazy plan, “I knew Rachel was going to go through my mail because the woman is curious to a fault. And everything went according to plan until you had to screw it up by not dying!”

“Uhm, sorry?”

Stan ignored him.

“And then you left and I had no leverage to hurt Danny anymore.”

“And then I came back,” Steve added and Stan nodded wildly, the first sign of his mental instability.

“Yes, you came back. But this time I had learned from my mistake.”

“Of course.” The sarcastic tone in his voice didn’t escape the goon who actually grinned at him but it flew passed Stan’s head.

“I hired someone to tamper with Danny’s car, bought a huge pineapple and then followed you. A press of a button and the car stopped and Danny of course would loose it when seeing the pineapple. Clearly the man has issues with the fruit.”

It was disturbing for Steve to find he had to agree with Stan on that one.

“But again you foiled my plan!” Stan shouted, waving at him like a madman, “You saw the bomb and all went to hell. So this time I’m doing it right.”

Steve was still waiting for an explanation because so far he wasn’t quite getting it yet.

“So you honestly wanted to frame Danny for my murder with those pictures alone?”

“Of course not!” Stan actually sounded offended now, “The point was to hurt Williams, get him to see that there was no point in being on the island and to go home.”

“And killing me would’ve done all that?” Steve couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice because where Stan might’ve been partially rationally sounding before, right now the man was sliding down into the abyss rather quickly.

“He’s here for Grace, not for me.” Steve pointed out.

“Grace’s his daughter,” he said dismissively, “But you’re his lover! Williams followed Rachel across the country, of course with you dead his world would crumble.”

Steve opened his mouth to point out the many flaws but then with an audible click he closed his lips. What was the point arguing with the man?

He clearly wasn’t firing on all cylinders and pointing out how deranged he was wasn’t going to help anyone.

“So, you’ve got me, why am I still alive?” not that Steve was complaining but if getting him dead had been the plan than why hadn’t the sniper simply shot him?

Stan smiled wickedly at him, “There was no sniper by the way. I used a specifically made red light to trick you.”

Steve narrowed his eyes.

“I knew with your background you would assume the worst and I was right!” the man might not be jumping up and down with glee but he was shifting weight from one leg to the other which had a similar effect.

“And once Williams shows up, finding you dead I’ll shoot him too! I’m done with expecting him to do the right thing and leave!”

Steve had kept his hands behind his back, as if to steady himself on the ground and he had selected one piece of glass to be his distraction. With a flick of his wrist he threw it out into the hall and when it landed, clanking softly, all eyes strayed from him towards the sound.

Steve might not be the most steady on his feet at the moment but he was still a deadly weapon in human shape and he hurled himself off the floor and towards the good with the gun with lighting speed.

He used the second piece of glass to cut into the man hands, causing him to cry out and to drop the gun onto the floor. Steve kicked out, making it skittle away from him and with a few well placed punches which the man clearly hadn’t seen coming he crumpled to the floor.

Stan was staring at him wide, holding his hands out in front of him as if this would stop Steve from approaching but unfortunately Steve had miscalculated one thing.

He had assumed that Stan would be unarmed and unfortunately despite his deer in the headlights look the man was still quick enough to draw his on gun.

Steve moved in, readying himself but Danny’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Drop the weapon!”

Stan’s hands visibly shook and Steve wasted no time, he closed the distance, twisted the gun out of the man’s hand and pocketed it.

“Next time learn how to undo the safety…”he offered helpfully.

“No backup Danny?” Steve smiled at the blond man who rolled his eyes.

“I called it in, Steve and Kono are on their way.”

“Did you hear everything?”

“I sure did,” Danny confirmed, eyes flickering to Stan.

Danny might rant and shout but he wasn’t a man of violence so Steve could honestly say he was surprised when Danny raised the back of his own gun, brining it down on the back of Stan’s head.

He looked on with satisfaction as his wife’s new husband fell unconscious to the floor.

“I’m sure there’re regulations against that,” Steve pointed out causing Danny to glare at him.

“You my friend need to shut up. You can’t quote regulations to me because you have no clue what rules are or how to follow them.”

“Come on, that’s not fair,” Steve mock protested and just as expected Danny launched into action.

“And why did you have to go along with this? You my friend need a new brain. What am I saying…You need a new brain and a leash! I know you could’ve gotten away from an amateur like Stan!”

“But he had goon over there watching me…”

“Don’t push me!” Danny shouted back, “I’ve seen you in action. You could’ve taken him and oh let’s wait, you did take him out!”

Steve opened his mouth but Danny made it impossible for him to get a word in edgewise.

“And we’re no longer dating.”

“What?”

Fear coursed through Steve. He couldn’t loose the man.

“Oh come on,” Danny rolled his eyes, voice calming down. “Our first date ended with my car getting blown up. Not to mention the freaky pineapple on the road.”

“Somehow I think you’re more upset about the fruit than the car,” Steve mumbled but he must not have been loud enough because Danny didn’t comment on that.

“The second date ended with you kidnapped and held at gun point so please forgive me if I am calling a stop to all future dating. Instead we’re moving right into phase two.”

“And what’s phase two?”

Danny looked at him as if Steve had lost the plot.

“Sex, Steve, sex!”

##

Steve was nervous.

Which was ridiculous because why should he be nervous? He was no virgin, by any means, and he wasn’t even new to having sex with a man.

But this was Danny and that fact alone had him chewing on his lower lip.

He brushed more imaginary dents out of the bed linen.

“You know, Steven, if you keep this up I’ll be too self conscious to even sit on the bed let alone lie down.”

Steve force, startled even though outwardly he gave no sign of it.

He looked up, rubbing the underside of his nose.

His eyes widened when he took in the sight of Danny, naked, standing before his bed with his hands on his hips.

His eyes trailed from the blond head towards his slightly furry chest to the firm stomach and lower until his eyes fixated on Danny’s already half hard cock.

“Like what you see?” the man teased him, grabbing his cock and stroking himself while all Steve could was swallow hard.

“So how do you want to do this?” Steve found himself asking, standing up to allow Danny to take in his body as well.

Maybe this wasn’t the most romantic first time but frankly this was how Steve preferred it.

He watched Danny lick his lips and then smile up at him.

“I’m up for nearly anything…”the blond man answered, “I wouldn’t object to you fucking me or me doing you but I’m too wound up to last long anyway so how about a blow job?”

“For me or you?”

Danny narrowed his eyes and honestly this was getting too complicated and no, Steve wasn’t trying to be contrary so he walked around the bed, grabbing Danny by the neck and then kissing him as if there was no tomorrow.

Danny was only startled for a moment before he returned the kiss with ferocity, his tongue pushing passed Steve’s lips to dance with Steve’s own.

He groaned, pulling Danny tighter against him until their chests met and their cocks rubbed against each other.

Steve continued to take the initiative, walking backwards towards the bed and pulling Danny along who came more than willingly.

When he felt the edges of the mattress digging into the back of his knees, Steve shifted, crawling up the bed and making a ‘come here’ gesture towards Danny.

The blond man smiled at him, obliged and crawled up beside him.

Having to breathe was honestly a nuisance because the need for oxygen kept interrupting the kisses but Steve was sure they would find a way to manage.

He wedged his leg in between Danny’s, rutting against the man and feeling Danny reciprocate by doing exactly the same thing.

Steve pulled back, wetting his lips and then he pushed Danny backwards, using his leg as an anchor. Danny went willingly, smiling down at him and Steve smiled back up while lifting the man’s cock and licking it from top to bottom.

Danny groaned, hips jutting forward and Steve had to put a steadying hand on them to stop Danny from shoving the cock too far.

“Steve…”Danny whimpered and hearing his name uttered so breathlessly was nearly enough for Steve to come on the spot.

He used his free hand to grab hold of his own cock, stifling the oncoming erection because he wasn’t going to blow his load this quickly!

Then he went down to business, licking the head of Danny’s cock like it was a lollipop, loving the flavour exploding inside his mouth all the while Danny made the most delicious noises sending Steve’s cock into spasm.

He came against Danny’s leg, rutting against it, desperate for friction while Danny let out a scream that sounded strangled, coming in Steve’s mouth.

He tried to swallow, milking his lover for all he had but he couldn’t get all of it.

When Danny was done, flopping back down onto the bed as if his bones had liquefied, he let the cock fall out of his mouth. He licked his lips, liking the aftertaste while Danny slowly found the strength to sit up, using his thumb to wipe a few errand flakes off Steve’s face.

“Love you babe,” the blond man said and Steve gave his answer by pulling Danny closer, kissing him long and deep.

“Love you too, Danno, love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can also view this story over on LJ and the masterpost is here:
> 
> http://kuhekabir-fics.livejournal.com/82033.html


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